To sensitize hearing people to the experience of deafness and to teach them methods of communicating with the hearing impaired, Rochester Institute of Technology and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf planned and delivered a program with the cooperation of merchants at an area shopping center. (SK)

A description of the sign language used in a Mexican village shows its parallels with other sign languages, its similarity to the folk gestural system of Mexico and its distinguishing aspects. Examples illustrate its syntax, grammar and lexicon. (PMJ)

Explores the operational and conceptual meanings of the iconicity of manual signs and sign languages. Empirical studies related to the operational definition of iconicity in American Sign Language are described, and implications of parallels between iconicity and "stimulus meaningfulness" are discussed in relation to the scientific…

The two groups were not significantly different on tests of lipreading and reception of signed English, but the hearing Ss were superior on tests of nonverbal reasoning and perceptual speed. Hearing Ss were greatly superior on a test of verbal reasoning. (Author/DLS)

Semiotics and its role in the college curriculum are discussed. Semiotics is defined as an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the study of those entities that effect communication between interpreters of signs. Specifics of the discipline are discussed through examples from various fields. (SF)

After several years of involvement with deaf and hearing-impaired students, numerous supportive projects have been developed for business students enrolled in typing, copy processing (duplicating), and machine calculation courses. (TA)

The mother of a 12-year-old medically fragile profoundly deaf child, urges the utilization of speech-language paraprofessionals in the schools in light of her successful experiences with paraprofessionals and the shortage of speech-language therapists competent in sign language. Training suggestions are also provided. (Author/DB)

Investigated associations between expressive language and symbolic play in deaf children with deaf parents or with hearing parents, and hearing children with hearing parents. Defined three language level groups. Hearing status was associated with duration of symbolic play. Higher language levels were associated with more canonically sequenced and…

Performance of 31 deaf students (ages 7-17) on 15 language and literacy measures found that students scoring highest on a passage-comprehension measure also demonstrated greater proficiency on specific skills (such as reading more listed words). In addition, students who used Signing Exact English (SEE) for 5 years or more scored better than those…

Comparison of the effectiveness of presenting information to deaf college students by signing only, interpreter signing and teacher speaking, and teacher signing and speaking failed to show that any one method was superior to the others. (CB)

During an eight-month treatment regimen utilizing simultaneous sign/speech input, all of the words of a young girl with Down's Syndrome were recorded. Analyses revealed that most of the words she initially signed were later spontaneously spoken and that most of her signed productions evolved into spontaneous spoken productions. (Author/JDD)

Two five-year-old children with profound hearing impairments were involved in a conditional discrimination task. They were taught to relate manual signs, pictures, and printed words in a nominal matching-to-sample task in such a way that equivalent stimuli resulted. Results showed that the establishment of equivalence relations can promote…

A teacher of hearing-impaired students describes commercially available software for teaching sign language and finger spelling, lists sources of information about other software programs, and offers suggestions to encourage teachers to utilize computers in their classrooms. (JDD)

Deaf parent/hearing child pairs (n=19) completed the Parental Strengths and Needs Inventory and were interviewed about their relationships. Scores were above average, and parents expressed high interest in childrearing information. Children with strong sign language skills expressed general willingness to interpret for their parents, and reported…

A nationwide study examined relationships between 201 prelingually deaf adolescents' reading comprehension scores and their hearing mothers' communication strategies and skills. A potential relationship was found between reading scores and signing skill levels of mothers, but no significant relationship between mothers' communication methods and…