The basic impoverishment of deafness is not lack of hearing but lack of language. To illustrate this, we have only to compare a 4-year-old hearing child, with a working vocabulary of between 2,000 and 3,000 words, to a child of the same age, profoundly deaf since infancy, who may have only a few words at his command. Even more important than…

The article describes methods used to bring a seven-year-old boy with severe auditory and visual impairments and no communication skills to a level of oral communication within one year. The manual, graphic, and oral-aural strategies used are described. (Author/DB)

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…

The paper describes the Makaton Vocabulary as an alternative communication mode for children and adults with communication and language difficulties. The language program comprises the following components: a core vocabulary based on concepts/items needed to express essential needs and experiences; the use of signs and/or symbols always associated…

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 article addresses training of hearing-impaired children who have received cochlear implants from a "hearing as a second language" point of view. It compares cochlear implants to hearing aids. A project involving 7 children, ages 5 to 12, is detailed, noting efforts to provide a rich auditory environment and encouraging both manual and oral…

This paper describes Bilingual-Bicultural (BiBi) instructional programs for students with hearing impairments and proposes a model for BiBi instruction which uses parents as partners with instructors to develop the linguistic abilities of hearing-impaired students. In the model, traditionally spoken languages are conveyed via cued speech instead…

This final report documents a project which developed and investigated the use of interactive videodisc technology to assist in the instruction of signing with deaf children and their associates (such as parents, teachers, peers). The project first identified words and phrases considered essential for interpersonal communications. A videodisc…