This paper argues that current practices in total communication classrooms have basically assigned the responsibility of communication to hearing-impaired students who must adapt to the variation in communication behaviors displayed by each of their teachers. The paper advocates use of a model communication and language policy designed to…

During an eight-month treatment regimen utilizing simultaneous sign/speech input, all of the words of a young girl with Down's Syndrome were recorded. Analyses revealed that most of the words she initially signed were later spontaneously spoken and that most of her signed productions evolved into spontaneous spoken productions. (Author/JDD)

Two five-year-old children with profound hearing impairments were involved in a conditional discrimination task. They were taught to relate manual signs, pictures, and printed words in a nominal matching-to-sample task in such a way that equivalent stimuli resulted. Results showed that the establishment of equivalence relations can promote…

Included is a framework for determining if a young severely language delayed child is an appropriate candidate for sign programs; a discussion of specific sign objectives; and guidelines for classroom implementation and family intervention. (Author)

Disfluencies in the verbal and signed language of a 10-year-old moderately mentally retarded boy were analyzed. Discussion addresses implications for the accurate characterization of stuttering in manual communication and appropriate approaches to management in such cases. (DB)

This report discusses an approach for the psychoeducational evaluation of students with deafness in the Francophone population of Ontario, Canada. An introduction describes the historical context of education of deaf students and presents the idea that learning a sign language, ideally while the child is very young, furnishes a foundation for…

A 3-years-and-11-months-old Japanese girl showed delayed language development and emotional disturbance and was believed to suffer from maternal deprivation. A treatment program was developed consisting of three kinds of therapy: (1) nondirective play therapy; (2) language training; and (3) counseling for the mother. The language training involved…

A school district established a Total Communication Project to improve consistency in teachers' role modeling of English with deaf students, which was the primary language of the classroom, and American Sign Language (ASL), which was used as an intervention tool. This paper describes the program, its theoretical framework, and procedures for…

The effects of three types of tutoring treatments on the attitudes of learning-disabled and control students (n=124) in grades K-6 were compared. The tutoring programs, involving sign language and reading, produced beneficial effects on attitudes about peers, school, and learning, whereas control students did not experience comparable gains.…

This book is a collection of essays on helping people with developmental disabilities communicate successfully. It is intended for practitioners and students in special education, speech-language pathology, and psychology. The essays are as follows: "Communicative Behaviour in the Least Restrictive Environment" (Ken Linfoot); "Play…

This book addresses the educational needs of children who are pervasively developmentally delayed (PDD), especially those exposed to drugs prenatally and those with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, autism, hyperactivity, Aspberger Syndrome, other heath impairments, attention deficit disorder, and childhood aphasia. The first chapter recommends the use of…