Support for baby signing (BS) with hearing infants tends to converge toward three camps or positions. Those who advocate BS to advance infant language, literacy, behavioral, and cognitive development rely heavily on anecdotal evidence and social media to support their claims. Those who advocate BS as an introduction to another language, such as…

Differential effects of parental deafness and early exposure to manual communication were not observed in the cognitive and communication performance of the 38 experimental subjects. Furthermore, the Delayed sign language group performed significantly better than the early American Sign Language group on tests of speech perception and speech…

A study tested the hypothesis that manual encoding aids learning in the prelingually deaf. Twenty-four adults who used fingerspelling as their primary means of communication participated in two groups of a paired-associate learning paradigm, using eight study-test trial sequences. Those using fingerspelling showed more recall and a faster learning…

Described is the cognitive-developmental training of 19 mute autistic children, mean age 11 years, with special language signs and connected boards elevated 3 to 6 feet above the ground to promote awareness of body in relation to surrounding objects. (MC)

Examined the development of communicative competence in deaf children and its interactions with use of communicative gestures and/or words. Data indicated (1) the use of communicative gestures increased with age while speech remained constant; and (2) the number of gestures used correlated with communicative accuracy. Difficulty level influenced…

Considered are ways in which developmental theories, methodologies, and research findings may be used to clarify the concept of experiential deficiencies of deaf children. Examined are the effects on deaf children of deprivations in physical experiences (such as the reduction of information about objects provided by auditory feedback) and in…

Motivational factors and unique characteristics of sign language systems are suggested as contributing to the ability of severely dysfunctional nonverbal children to make progress within a manual communication medium. (Author/EJS)

Twelve mute children (4-12 years old), diagnosed as autistic, were studied in order to describe their sensorimotor functioning and to relate their sensorimotor performance to nonverbal communication and cognitive development. (Author/BD)

Describes a study that investigated the development of pattern recognition and pattern reversal in 20 deaf children aged six through eight and its relation to age of exposure to a gestural symbol system. (Author/DS)

Examines from a Vygotskian perspective deaf children's private speech, i.e., speech that is spoken aloud (or visibly performed) but that is addressed to no particular person. Findings are consistent with Vygotsky's notion of the robustness of the phenomenon and its ontogenesis in early social communication. (33 references) (LR)