Background: Children with Down syndrome have speech and language difficulties that are disproportionate to their overall intellectual ability and relative strengths in the use of gesture. Shared book reading between parents and their children provides an effective context in which language development can be facilitated. However, children with…

This study, which is part of a larger longitudinal ethnographic study of young deaf children, reports on deaf children's use of fingerspelling. The children observed were early signers using Swedish Sign Language (SSL) in communication with teachers and peers. This study centres on the functions of fingerspelling in the children's everyday…

Categories of deafness are defined not in terms of degree of hearing loss but of consequences for the deaf person. The culture and language, British Sign Language, of a largely hidden population are discussed. (40 references) (LB)

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…

This naturalistic study examined the classroom collaborative play activities of nine preschoolers with hearing impairments and language delays, but without sign-language skills. Findings indicated the children constructed collaborative play episodes which incorporated role, action, and object transformations using a nonverbal metacommunication…

Explains the need to establish alternate communication devices between mothers and their blind infants. Mothers must demonstrate a natural ability to respond to auditory and manual cues, rather than visual cues. The importance of "tactual intimacy" is also stressed. (AS)

The use of sign language with severely handicapped students is analyzed in light of commonly held rationales. Cognitive, motor, and sociocommunicative factors affecting the learning of sign language are discussed, as well as environmental considerations (including attitudes toward sign language and competence of teachers and other caregivers in…

Ten-minute video recordings of the dyadic interactions between seven deaf children (mean age 5.5 years) and their communication partners (either deaf or hearing) were analyzed. Findings are reported in terms of interaction variables (initiation, continuation, ending, and complexity) and communicative modalities (sign, actions, conventional…

A study of three adults with profound mental retardation examined the effectiveness of functional communication training in reducing self-injurious behavior (SIB) and in shaping an alternative (communicative) response while SIB continued to be reinforced. Results found when extinction was added to the training procedure, SIB decreased and manual…

This study investigated the ability of two groups of profoundly deaf students (N=40 and ages 8, 11, 14, and 17), using either oral or signed communication, to employ pragmatic skills required for effective face-to-face interactions. Notable differences in pragmatic skills were found between the groups and between deaf and normal hearing students.…

Describes a cooperative-learning project of the Kansas School for the Deaf and a nearby public high school. Students first participated in a workshop on visual-gestural communication and then met together daily for two weeks to design and build their 4' by 8' miniature golf "greens". Goals of communication, cooperative learning,…

Describes the author's experience with the loss of hearing in early adulthood. The use of hearing aids, the situations in which hearing is easier or more difficult, and discrimination faced by people with hearing disabilities are discussed. A vision of a future that enables hearing-impaired persons to participate is described. (Contains three…

This study investigated the communication modes used by 15 severely hearing-impaired adults when they communicate with nonsigning, hearing persons. Subject attitudes toward augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) features were also examined. Inconsistent communication success was reported, as was lack of experience with electronic AAC…

Offers hearing parents of deaf infants guidelines on communicating with their child based on changes that deaf mothers make in their signing when talking to their deaf baby. Guidelines focus on restricting language, sign repetition, dramatic expression, waiting for the child's attention, tapping to gain attention, and visual leading. (DB)

The onset and maintenance of visual attention to signing was observed in three profoundly deaf children (ages two and three) while interacting with their hearing mothers about a picture story. All children experienced problems with the need to focus simultaneously on the mother's signs and the picture book. Suggestions for developing visual…