A condensed brief filed by the American Council on Education and the National Institute of Independent Colleges and Universities on behalf of the University of Texas is presented. The arguments concern the applicability of Section 504 in the university's responsibility to provide an interpreter for a deaf graduate student. (MSE)

Observations showed that the use of signs did not impede the development of speech. Instead it seems to increase the children's skill in lipreading, although the early use of written language may play a part by facilitating the encoding of lip movements. (Author)

Studies the attitudes toward deaf society of two new deaf Gallaudet students who had been raised in an "oralist" tradition with biases against deaf culture. Their attitudes are compared with those of a deaf graduate oralist who had become acculturated into the deaf community. (PJM)

Discusses background information about the deaf that may be useful to reading teachers working with older deaf students; suggests additional sources of information on sign language and reading instruction for the deaf. (MKM)

Considers the signed speech of nonverbal children and the unsigned speech that evolves. Discusses possible explanations for signed speech as a development of linguistic functions. Makes suggestions for research on the relationship between language acquisition by nonverbal children and by normal infants. (PMJ)

A follow-up was done on a 1976 survey of communication trends in schools and programs for the hearing impaired in the U.S. Although a lower response rate made direct comparison of numbers impossible, the percentage of classes using the various communication modes was consistent with the earlier study. (Author/CL)

A survey of 222 educational sign language interpreters from K-12 public school systems found a lack of certification and adequate training for the majority of respondents and an underrepresentation of males and interpreters from minority groups. Recommendations for providing educational programs and services for students with hearing impairments…

A study of three adults with profound mental retardation examined the effectiveness of functional communication training in reducing self-injurious behavior (SIB) and in shaping an alternative (communicative) response while SIB continued to be reinforced. Results found when extinction was added to the training procedure, SIB decreased and manual…

Librarians at Indiana University Northwest Library surveyed patrons on how to make the library's collection and services more accessible by improving signage. Examines the effectiveness of signage to instruct users, reduce difficulties and fears, ameliorate negative experiences, and contribute to a user-friendly environment. (AEF)

A study involving 152 college students with deafness found students who had at least one parent with deafness and signed scored significantly higher on self-esteem measures than those with hearing parents who could or who could not sign. Overall, self-esteem scores for all respondents were high. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

A study of 27 students with deafness raised by hearing parents who advocated a strict oral approach, 22 students with deafness who used Israeli Sign Language, and 39 controls, found both the controls and participants with prelingual deafness who were trained to communicate orally recoded visually presented target words phonologically. (Contains…

Longitudinal study of a deaf child's (with deaf signing and speaking parents) speech functions revealed that the child, before age three, rarely attempted speech imitation. By age five, the child had acquired new words through speechreading and had adjusted language modes to listener needs for flexible communication, and speech behavior assumed…

The study compared scores of 2 groups of hearing-impaired students ages 5 to 12 years on a literacy battery. Subjects (n=73) were receiving instruction which either completely encoded spoken English or incompletely encoded spoken English. Those receiving completely encoded English instruction tended to score higher on achievement tests especially…

Explores how the ENFI (Electronic Networks for Interaction) computer method for teaching written English to deaf students can help these students bridge the gap between conversational and written language forms, and between the use of two different languages. (CB) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education)

Eleven elementary-school hearing-impaired students were shown pictures and asked to make up a story; and were presented stories in speech and signs, with and without pictures, and asked to retell the stories. Results indicated that the students made use of story grammars in organizing retellings and in constructing stories; pictures enhanced…