This study examined young children's hand usage when they produced American Sign Language signs and while they played, in order to determine their hand preference in early signing and to compare their hand use in signing with their hand preference in other, nonlinguistic, motor actions. Subjects were 24 young children (from the age of 12 months or…

Reports an 18-month longitudinal study of sign language acquisition in very young children of deaf parents. Results indicate that some revision of views on cognitive prerequisites for language is necessary. Implications for nonspeaking populations and for developmental theory are discussed. Reviews briefly sign language training programs for…

A longitudinal study of sign language acquisition was conducted with 13 very young children (median age 10 months or outset of study) of deaf parents. A majority of signs in Ss' early vocabularies were not iconic, suggesting that the role of iconicity may have been overrated. (Author/CL)

The linguistic abilities, cognitive abilities, and educational achievements of the deaf are reviewed. Results indicated the deaf are not intellectually deficient, and that many can communicate effectively in sign language. (CS)

Studied across a 16-month period, young children of deaf parents showed accelerated early language development, on the average producing their first recognizable sign at 8.5 months, their tenth sign at 13.2 months, and their first sign combination at 17.0 months. Findings are inconsistent with previously reported patterns of synchrony between…

The relationship between sign language rehearsal and written free recall was examined by having deaf college students rehearse the sign language equivalents of printed English words. Studies of both immediate and delayed memory suggested that word recall increased as a function of total rehearsal frequency and frequency of appearance in rehearsal…

Sign language production of 14 low-functioning students (ages 9 to 20) with autistic disorder were examined. The location aspect of signs was produced more accurately by subjects than either the handshape or movement aspects. Wide individual differences were observed. Sign vocabulary size and accuracy was correlated with performance on two…

The article gives an example of how, even though an individual's capacity to use or to learn a spoken language may be significantly impaired by brain damage, the ability to acquire a non-oral language system may remain intact. (Author/NCR)

Examines an 1847 report that reveals that sign communication training with mentally retarded children was used successfully during the last century. These children acquired signs and demonstrated improvement in their personal and social behavior. These findings are similar to those reported in recent research. (34 references) (Author/CK)