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PubMed2000

Syntactic and semantic processing in Hebrew readers with prelingual deafness.

The experimenter investigated the effect of semantic clues on the reading comprehension of deaf and hearing Israeli children. Two groups of students with prelingual deafness, and a hearing control group, were asked to read syntactically simple and syntactically relative sentences of varying semantic plausibility. Sixteen of the participants who were deaf (mean grade 6.9) had been trained orally, using spoken language as their principal means of communication at home and at school. Another 16 students with deafness (mean grade 6.9), all of them children of deaf parents, had acquired sign language as their primary language. The mean grade of the hearing control group was 6.5. The results suggest that, in contrast to the case with hearing individuals, reading comprehension in individuals with prelingually acquired deafness, regardless of communication background, is predominantly determined by the semantic processing of content words, with only minor attention given to the processing of the syntactic structure of the text.

Child↗

PubMed1984

A vocabulary test for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Chimpanzees can communicate in American Sign Language (ASL) to independent human observers whose only source of information is the ASL signs of the chimpanzees. A vocabulary test was presented to 4 cross-fostered chimpanzees (4-6 years old). Thirty-five-millimeter color slides were projected on a screen that could be seen by the chimpanzee subject but not by the human observers. There were two observers: O1 was the questioner in the testing room with the subject; O2 was in a different room. Neither observer could see the other, or the responses of the other observer. O1 and O2 agreed in their readings of both correct and incorrect signs, and most of the signs were the correct ASL names of the slides. In order to show that the chimpanzees were naming natural language categories--that the sign DOG could refer to any dog, FLOWER to any flower, SHOE to any shoe--each test trial was a first trial in that test slides were presented only once. Analysis of errors showed that two aspects of the signs, gestural form and conceptual category, governed the distribution of errors.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

The development of graphic symbols for medical symptoms to facilitate communication between health care providers and receivers.

Since there are a variety of communication barriers in health care settings in Japan, a study was designed to improve communication by the use of graphic symbols. At the beginning of this study, graphic symbols were developed to correspond to 26 basic symptoms. Seventy-six subjects voluntarily evaluated the comprehensibility of these symbols: nursing students (n = 29), manual sign language interpreters (n = 24), hearing impaired subjects with normal (n = 10), limited (n = 11), and minimal (n = 2) literacy abilities. The comprehension by each respondent of each symbol was compared with that of the authors. On the average, numbers of the matching meanings were 24.9 +/- 1.36 (mean +/- S.D.) for students, 24.5 +/- 1.77 for interpreters, 23.4 +/- 2.22, and 21.5 +/- 3.01 for the first two groups of the hearing impaired. Among the 26 symbols, 10 showed high levels of the matching rates (> 90%) for all groups. These symbols were considered to be effective alternatives to verbal expression. Further refinements of the graphic symbols were suggested to suppress the differences in interpretation of the remainder of the symbols. During this study, colleagues and subjects suggested cognitive strategies to clarify and enhance the meaning of the graphic symbols such as (a) the subtraction of excessive information, (b) the addition of further information, and (c) the simplification of the setting by minimizing social and cultural bias.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Laughter among deaf signers.

The placement of laughter in the speech of hearing individuals is not random but "punctuates" speech, occurring during pauses and at phrase boundaries where punctuation would be placed in a transcript of a conversation. For speakers, language is dominant in the competition for the vocal tract since laughter seldom interrupts spoken phrases. For users of American Sign Language, however, laughter and language do not compete in the same way for a single output channel. This study investigated whether laughter occurs simultaneously with signing, or punctuates signing, as it does speech, in 11 signed conversations (with two to five participants) that had at least one instance of audible, vocal laughter. Laughter occurred 2.7 times more often during pauses and at phrase boundaries than simultaneously with a signed utterance. Thus, the production of laughter involves higher order cognitive or linguistic processes rather than the low-level regulation of motor processes competing for a single vocal channel. In an examination of other variables, the social dynamics of deaf and hearing people were similar, with "speakers" (those signing) laughing more than their audiences and females laughing more than males.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Auditory neuropathy/dys-synchrony: diagnosis and management.

Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) and otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) are objective measures of auditory function, but are not hearing tests. Normal OAEs reflect normal cochlear outer hair cell function, and an ABR indicates a synchronous neural response. It is quite possible for a patient to have normal OAEs but absent or grossly abnormal ABR and a behavioral audiogram that is inconsistent with either test. These patients, who may constitute as much as 10% of the diagnosed deaf population, have auditory neuropathy/dys-synchrony (AN/AD). To diagnose AN/AD accurately, ABRs are obtained in response to condensation and rarefaction clicks to distinguish cochlear microphonics (CM) from neural responses. Appropriate management is confounded by variation among patients and changes in auditory function in some patients over time. Recommendations for management include visual language exposure through methods such as American Sign Language (ASL), Cued Speech, or baby signs, and closely following patients.

Acoustic Impedance Tests↗

PubMed2006

New literacies, multiple literacies, unlimited literacies: what now, what next, where to? A response to blue listerine, parochialism and ASL literacy.

This article is a response to Blue Listerine, Parochialism, and ASL Literacy (Czubek, 2006). The author presents his views on the concepts of literacy and the new and multiple literacies. In addition, the merits of print literacy and other types of literacies are discussed. Although the author agrees that there is an American Sign Language (ASL) literacy, he maintains that there should be a distinction between conversational "literacy" forms (speech and sign) and secondary literacy forms (reading and writing). It might be that cognitive skills associated with print literacy and, possibly, other captured literacy forms, are necessary for a technological, scientific-driven society such as that which exists in the United States.

Education of Persons with Hearing Disabilities↗

PubMed1987

Predicting spoken language acquisition of profoundly hearing-impaired children.

The Spoken Language Predictor (SLP) Index is a proposed guide for making recommendations regarding the most appropriate communication mode to be used in educating a given hearing-impaired child. The SLP Index is the sum of points obtained on five predictor factors that have been weighted according to their contribution to successful spoken language acquisition. The point values assigned for each factor as well as assignment of points to particular test scores within each factor was accomplished by subjective clinical judgment followed by trial application to actual clinic cases. Three ranges of SLP indexes are associated with three educational recommendations: speech emphasis (SLP = 80-100), provisional speech instruction (SLP = 60-75), and sign language emphasis (SLP = 0-55). The purpose of this article is to describe the development and application of the SLP and preliminary evidence for its stability and validity.

Child↗

PubMed1996

A history of seeing essential English (SEE I).

Over the past 30 years, several Manual Codes on English have been developed in the United States. Unlike American Sign Language, which is a language independent of English, manual codes of English were designed to specifically reflect English and are signed in English word order. The first such system to appear during this time frame was Seeing Essential English (SEE I), developed by David Anthony, a deaf educator of the deaf. Today most educational programs for the deaf use Signing Exact English (SEE II) or Signed English and there is confusion about the nature and role of SEE I. This paper is designed to clear up some of the misconceptions that have grown up around SEE I, to provide some historical background about its development, and to review some research findings concerning its effectiveness.

Correction of Hearing Impairment↗

PubMed2002

A psychosocial follow-up study of deaf preschool children using cochlear implants.

The aim of the study was to explore patterns of communication between 22 children with cochlear implants (CI) and their parents, teachers and peers in natural interactions over a 2-year period. The children, between 2 and 5 years old when implanted, had used the implant between 1 and 3.5 years at the end of the study. Analyses of videorecorded interactions showed that meaningful oral communication was more easily obtained in the home setting than in the preschool setting. Patterns of communication between parent-child, content and complexity of dialogues, quality of peer interactions, communicative styles of adults, and the use of sign language in communication turned out to be important factors when explaining the result of the CI on the individual child's development. The children with the best oral skills were also good signers.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1982

Manual communication skills in aphasia.

This study investigated the acquisition and use of American Sign Language (ASL) and American Indian Gestural Code (Amerind) in 8 aphasic adults. Subjects received 2 hours of instruction for 4 weeks in 20 signs from each system. No difference was found in ease of acquisition between the sign systems in these subjects. However, when specific subject characteristics were noted, auditory comprehension skills wer significantly related to subjects' abilities to learn the signs. Subjects' residual expressive language skills were found not to be related to their abilities to learn either sign system.

Aphasia↗

PubMed1982

Comparison of sign versus verbal symbol training in retarded adults.

Sign language as an alternative or as an augmentive system to verbal language training in the mentally retarded is in widespread use. This study began an exploration of the relationship between sign and verbal learning in 10 institutionalized severely mentally retarded adults. Three experimental groups were taught color labels. Three persons received sign training only, 4 more received verbal training only, and last 3 received combined verbal and sign training. Sign labels tended to be learned more efficiently than verbal labels by this small group. Combined sign and verbal training improved verbal learning whereas sign learning was not improved through the combined approach. Replication and extension of this preliminary work with a larger and more representative sample is needed.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Communication in animals.

The paper deals with the antecedents of human speech in animals, more precisely with the problems of continuity versus discontinuity in communication between the different species of vertebrates. It puts emphasis on higher classes of mammals, namely monkeys and apes. Three ancient structures and mechanisms are listed which may have a role as forerunners of the development of human speech: (1) the activity of the mimic muscles of the cheeks and of the jaws, (2) the evolution of sound-producing specialized membranes in the laryngeal respiratory passages, and (3) the development of hemispheric asymmetries of the brain, which culminated in the emergence of the specific speech areas of the dominant hemisphere in humans. The history of the research of animal language cannot avoid the survey of the fascinating trials made on anthropoid apes. The paper briefly summarizes the four approaches (American Sign Language, plastic tokens, keyboard systems and mimics) with the conclusion that continuity can be demonstrated in brain lateralization and in cognitive abilities, but a marked discontinuity between animal communication and human speech is evident.

Animal Communication↗

PubMed2001

Bringing health care information to the deaf community.

BACKGROUND: The Deaf community reports limited access to health promotion information and care. Literature review, key informant interviews, and focus groups generated a clearer understanding of the community. Health care providers, educators, and policymakers could improve medical care to the Deaf community by: 1) better understanding its culture and language; 2) creating more health education programs specifically for the Deaf community; 3) developing opportunities for more deaf people and American Sign Language (ASL) users to enter the health professions; and 4) creating incentives for hearing health care providers to become ASL proficient.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Cortical deafness: a longitudinal study.

We have studied a patient with MRI-confirmed bilateral absence of considerable portions of her temporal lobes resulting in cortical deafness. Although physiologic measures demonstrate normal peripheral hearing sensitivity, this patient's speech has the inflection and prosodic characteristics associated with profound peripheral hearing loss, and she is unable to understand spoken communication. Behaviorally obtained pure-tone thresholds taken over nearly 20 years range from normal to moderate hearing loss with normal middle ear muscle reflexes and normal ABRs; however, we consistently found abnormal middle latency and cortical evoked potentials. Because of her total inability to communicate auditorily, this patient was ultimately taught American Sign Language and educated at the Louisiana School for the Deaf. This rare case highlights the importance of using multiple audiologic measures sensitive to abnormalities at various levels of the auditory system.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Long-term progress in reading abilities in hearing-impaired children trained by the Kanazawa method.

The speech and language training for deaf children at our clinic is done by the Kanazawa method, consisting of reception and production training in sign language (SL) along with auditory/oral language (OL), and written language (WL) training. The present investigation was undertaken to explore long-term progress in reading comprehension abilities in 14 hearing-impaired children who were trained by the Kanazawa method before entering elementary schools. Progress in reading comprehension was evaluated using a standard reading test for hearing peers. The results obtained were as follows: (i) The average score in reading ability just before entering elementary schools was a second level, (ii) this high score was maintained almost longitudinally, and (iii) on the other hand, the hearing-impaired children who had poor reading scores on entering schools continued to score poorly in higher grades. These results suggest that early presentation of WL is effective in the acquisition of reading ability, which is especially difficult for the hearing-impaired.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Visual imagery and visual-spatial language: enhanced imagery abilities in deaf and hearing ASL signers.

The ability to generate visual mental images, to maintain them, and to rotate them was studied in deaf signers of American Sign Language (ASL), hearing signers who have deaf parents, and hearing non-signers. These abilities are hypothesized to be integral to the production and comprehension of ASL. Results indicate that both deaf and hearing ASL signers have an enhanced ability to generate relatively complex images and to detect mirror image reversals. In contrast, there were no group differences in ability to maintain information in images for brief periods or to imagine objects rotating. Signers' enhanced visual imagery abilities may be tied to specific linguistic requirements of ASL (referent visualization, topological classifiers, perspective shift, and reversals during sign perception).

Adult↗

PubMed2004

The cortical organization of audio-visual sentence comprehension: an fMRI study at 4 Tesla.

Neuroimaging studies of written and spoken sentence processing report greater left hemisphere than right hemisphere activation. However, a large majority of our experience with language is face-to-face interaction, which is much richer in information. The current study examines the neural organization of audio-visual (AV) sentence processing using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 4 Tesla. Participants viewed the face and upper body of a speaker via a video screen while listening to her produce, in alternating blocks, English sentences and sentences composed of pronounceable non-words. Audio-visual sentence processing was associated with activation in the left hemisphere in Broca's area, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the superior precentral sulcus, anterior and middle portions of the lateral sulcus, middle superior portions of the temporal sulcus, supramarginal gyrus and angular gyrus. Further, AV sentence processing elicited activation in the right anterior and middle lateral sulcus. Between-hemisphere analyses revealed a left hemisphere dominant pattern of activation. The findings support the hypothesis that the left hemisphere may be biased to process language independently of the modality through which it is perceived. These results are discussed in the context of previous neuroimaging results using American Sign Language (ASL).

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Total communication use among elementary teachers of hearing-impaired children.

This study examined the degree to which teachers' signed Manually Coded English messages represented their spoken utterances. Results indicate that educators in early elementary programs can, and do, provide a complete manual representation of their spoken English messages. This is in contrast with earlier research with middle school educators and parents of hearing-impaired children. Findings indicate that MCE proficiency may be influenced both by teacher attitude regarding the importance of signing a complete message and the degree to which program supervisors monitor teacher implementation of clearly specified MCE policies. Findings from this study have implications for programs to train teachers in using MCE and also provide information on the effects of program policy on teacher use of sign language.

Child↗