The paper presents a critical review of studies dealing with manual communication training for severely reading disabled students plus the case report of two severely reading disabled adolescents given reading instruction with the aid of fingerspelling and sign language. (Author/CL)

Discusses the potential of sign language as a tool in teaching reading to normal hearing children and the success of this method with individuals who have various communication disorders. (EJS)

Students with the dual handicaps of hearing impairment and mental retardation display special problems in language acquisition. These problems do not appear to have been addressed by curricula that have been designed for either of the single handicap groups. Since specially designed curricula for this population are virtually nonexistent, a…

Research indicates that using the manual alphabet in classes of non-deaf students is effective both for spelling and vocabulary instruction. Teachers appreciate the way signing physically involves the students, acts as a self-cueing system, is inexpensive, and helps with writing problems like "b" and "d" reversals. Other advantages are: (1) it is…

Historical and current trends, practices, and perspectives regarding manual communication in educating deaf children are discussed, including Manually Coded English systems and American Sign Language. Issues concerning choice of sign language/systems and instructional strategies that support sign usage (such as Total Communication, Simultaneous…