One year after the first evaluation, teachers rated 18 hearing impaired children on their frequency of use of the Signed English markers. On the average, the group showed a slight improvement in their use of the marker system. Additionally, frequency of use of each of the 14 markers was also rated by the teachers. (Author)

The study involving 60 undergraduate students investigated sign language as a function of sign translucency (the perceived relationship between a sign and its referent) and referential concreteness. Translucency and concreteness levels were varied and naive sign language learners attempted to learn a list of sign referent pairs. Results indicated…

The acquisition of expressive sign language was studied in four autistic children (ages 10-15 years). Ss were taught expressive sign labels for common objects using a training procedure consisting of prompting, fading, and stimulus totation. The signing of three of the Ss was found to be controlled solely by the visual cues associated with the…

Six nonverbal, autistic boys (ages 6 to 11) were studied to assess what was learned when signs and spoken words were presented simultaneously. The boys were taught to discriminate among several available objects when given commands consisting of simultaneously signed and spoken object labels. Each of the six children mastered all of the…

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…

A survey of 33 states was conducted to obtain information on the use of signing with clients participating in special education programs. (Author)

Twelve nonverbal, hearing, retarded children (4 to 8 years old) were matched and then randomly assigned to sign language training, speech training, and placebo groups. The findings were interpreted as indicating that some nonverbal retarded children will benefit more from sign language than speech training. (Author)

The observational study examined the sign language and communication abilities of 10 nonspeaking, autistic and autisticlike children (6 to 14 years old) involved in simultaneous communication training. Video data were collected as each child interacted with his/her therapist and with an unfamiliar adult. Analyses of the children's and adults'…

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…

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)

Results of an analysis of variance revealed that iconicity enhanced learning, similarity interfered with acquisition, and there was no effect of vocabulary age within the range studied. (Author)

Nine profoundly retarded and institutionalized persons (16-57 years old) were taught over a six-week period to associate gestural signs with a series of pictures depicting these acts and objects. (Author)