This book reports the proceedings of the conference on the role of speech in language, the fifth conference in the "Communicating by Language" Series, sponsored by the Growth and Development Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The focus of the first group of papers is on the development of speech in man and…

The historical developments of the use of lipreading from 1500 A.D. to 1931 are described. Education of the deaf is traced from its beginnings in Spain to England, Belgium, Holland, and France with the use of quotations from literature and old documents. The lives and works of Charles Michel de l'Epee and Samuel Heinicke, the beginning of…

Reviews six interactive videodisc programs designed to meet the challenges of special education. Videodiscs for deaf or hearing impaired learners, mentally retarded students, and special education support personnel are described, and background information on special education and handicap classifications is provided. (19 references) (Author/LRW)

A teacher, speech-language pathologist, school principal, and audiologist rated 27 hearing-impaired elementary students on effective use of language, speech, and sign language and on presence of a learning disability and/or behavior problem. Ratings were compared with each other and with test scores purporting to identify learning disabilities or…

A study of 30 sign language interpreters (N=30) attempted to isolate cognitive, perceptual, psychomotor, and affective factors predictive of effective interpretive skills. Analysis revealed that family background (hearing or deaf family members) significantly affected certain personality traits and interpretive skills. (Author/CB)

This digest discusses hearing loss in children. Topics covered include: (1) the causes of hearing loss and the three major types of hearing losses, conductive loss, sensorineural loss, and central auditory processing disorder; (2) the federal definitions of "deaf" (hearing loss which adversely affects educational performance and which is…

The results of a word recognition study are compared to those of a sign recognition study in order to determine which aspects of lexical access are comparable in speech and sign, and which are specific to each of the two language modalities. The "gating paradigm" was used in both studies. (Author/AMH)

A condensed version of a brief filed in the case of a deaf graduate student requesting that the university provide a sign language interpreter is presented. Arguments concern the misconstrual of previous court rulings, of the law, and of whether or not the specific program in question must be federally funded. (MSE)

Describes development of an interpreter paraprofessional (IP) program by Utah State University and Granite (Utah) school district in response to the unavailability of certified interpreters to assist in special education assessment of students who are English Language Learners. Stresses the importance of providing IPs with job-relevant training,…

Describes a case study of a young man with autism, also previously diagnosed with mental retardation and apraxia, who communicated using speech, sign language, facilitated communication, body language, and his mother's conversational supports. Participant observation, interviews, and records' review illustrate his preference for speaking and the…

This study evaluated the internal reliability and face validity of a linguistically modified Self-Description Questionnaire and a sign language video presentation of the questionnaire items with 10 deaf students (ages 8 to 13). Results suggest that the modified measure and video presentation are appropriate for use with deaf students without…

Lists 77 Web sites related to deafness in alphabetical order by the organization's name. Gives a brief description of each organization's goals and programs or what is available at its Web site, and the Web site address. (TD)

Thirty-five students (age 5-21) with mental retardation completed a 10-lesson curriculum on verbal and signed vocabulary acquisition. Therapist only and therapist plus video methods resulted in higher spoken and manual sign production of targeted items compared to the video only method. Receptive vocabulary was not improved. (Author/JDD)

A mother of a deaf child recounts her earlier commitment to an oralist position, her gradual realization that she was asking her child to do the impossible, and the child's rapid acquisition of language when allowed and encouraged to use signs. The importance of hearing parents learning sign language is stressed. (DB)