An analysis of the research literature suggests that a variety of sign systems have been used with retarded individuals of varying ages. The application or success or failure of that therapy does not seem to be determined by a particular treatment model and/or set of guidelines. (Author)

A comparison of the intelligibility of Ameslan (American Sign Language) and Amerind (American Indian Sign), sign systems in teaching nonverbal handicapped children language, was carreid out with 30 undergraduate students. (Author/CL)

To explore the effects of the use of sign language as an intervention technique to facilitate the development of expressive and receptive communication skills, manual sign language (Signing Exact English) was employed with 12 multihandicapped, language delayed and/or nonverbal Ss (18 to 36 months old). Sign language was studied both as a…

Investigated with 296 hearing impaired young adults and adults was the effect of delay between auditory and visual aspects of the speech message in an oral-manual interpreting situation. (Author/CL)

Investigated was ability of adolescent deaf students to comprehend language under three conditions: lipreading with voice, the Rochester method, and total communication. (KW)

To expand sign language for simultaneous use along with fingerspelling and speech, signs were created for English terms frequently used in the classroom. Those signs judged very good or excellent in clarity and appearance were retained and selected ones taught by closed circuit television to Gallaudet students. Entering preparatory students…

Analyzed are some common features of three studies on manual communication which cause the author to doubt whether manual communication does best prepare hearing impaired children for the hearing world, as the studies would imply. (KW)

Symmetrical signs were acquired significantly faster than were asymmetrical signs, and touch signs were acquired significantly faster than were nontouch signs. Results of the acquisition of iconic v abstract signs were inconclusive. (Author)

Computer graphics representing the alphabet used by deaf persons for manual communication were used in the FINGEX experiment, which measured Ss' ability to read fingerspelled sentences at different rates of speed, and in the CONFUS experiment, which measured similarities between fingerspelled characters by assessing confusion caused by rapid…

Results of a 10-week program in which 32 moderately retarded persons (3-19 years old) were taught to use American Indian Sign Language (AMERIND) suggested that AMERIND may be preferable to American Sign Language because of its concreteness and its intelligibility to untrained observers. (CL)

A study involving six institutionalized retarded males was designed to determine if sign-object and sign-word training would lead to acquisition of word-object associations. (Author)