Signing systems that attempted to represent spoken language via manual signs -- some invented, and some borrowed from natural sign languages -- have historically been used in classrooms with deaf children. However, despite decades of research and use of these systems in the classroom, there is little evidence supporting their educational…

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) literature, including the reading behaviour of Deaf adults, suggests that Teachers of the deaf (TODs) read different amounts of text during read alouds to DHH prereaders based on the spoken and visual communication modes DHH prereaders use, such as: American Sign Language (ASL), only spoken English (speech),…

A training sequence is presented for teaching the manual alphabet beginning with the hand shapes that look most like the letters they represent. Each manual letter is then paired with an associated word. (CL)

In 1967 the Florida School for the Deaf adopted the Rochester Method (using fingerspelling as a more visible supplement to speech and lipreading). (LS)

A test of morpheme-based concepts was administered to 67 deaf children (ages 5-11 years) who were exposed to Seeing Essential English (SEE--a visual English sign system). (Author)

Six research areas in manual/simultaneous communication (M/SC) for hearing-impaired individuals are discussed. (Author)

Three reasons given by advocates of fingerspelled English or visible English (VE) that their method of communication is superior to total communication (TC) were investigated with an observational study of 11 teachers in two VE schools and 15 teachers in two TC schools. (Author/IM)

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)

The study compared scores of 2 groups of hearing-impaired students ages 5 to 12 years on a literacy battery. Subjects (n=73) were receiving instruction which either completely encoded spoken English or incompletely encoded spoken English. Those receiving completely encoded English instruction tended to score higher on achievement tests especially…

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 instructor's manual to manual communication, sign language and fingerspelling, (For student's manual, see EC 042 222.) is divided into two main parts. The first part consists of a general section with chapters on basic procedures and techniques of teaching, drills and remediation treatments, use of videotaping equipment, and teaching…

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…

Two studies were made of the Rochester Method of combining fingerspelling with speech and of its effects on development of language and communication in profoundly, prelingually deaf children. A survey tested school performances of 200 subjects from six residential schools for the deaf, three of which used the Rochester Method and three which used…