Language development is an important facet of early life. Deaf children may have exposure to various languages and communication modalities, including spoken and visual. Previous research has documented the rate of growth of English skills among young deaf children, but no studies have investigated the rate of ASL acquisition. The current paper…

Word learning in young children requires coordinated attention between language input and the referent object. Current accounts of word learning are based on spoken language, where the association between language and objects occurs through simultaneous and multimodal perception. In contrast, deaf children acquiring American Sign Language (ASL)…

In everyday communication, not only do speakers describe, but they also depict. When depicting, speakers can take on the role of other people and quote their speech or imitate their actions. In previous work, we developed a paradigm to elicit depictions in speakers. Here we apply this paradigm to signers to explore depiction in the manual…

In recent years increased attention has been given in applied linguistics to the learning processes of various groups of special needs (SN) students, especially to those whose achievement is impeded by dyslexia or other learning difficulties. However, students with sensory impairment, particularly those who are Deaf or severely hard of hearing…

The aim of this longitudinal case study was to describe bimodal and bilingual acquisition in a hearing child, Hugo, especially the role his Deaf family played in his linguistic education. Video observations of the family interactions were conducted from the time Hugo was 10 months of age until he was 40 months old. The family language was Swedish…

This case study longitudinally analyzes and describes the changes of attentional expressions in interchanges between a pair of fraternal twins, 1 deaf and 1 hearing, from the age of 10-40 months, and their Deaf family members. The video-observed attentional expressions of initiating and reestablishing interchange were grouped in 5 functional…

Studies have reported a right visual field (RVF) advantage for coherent motion detection by deaf and hearing signers but not non-signers. Yet two studies [Bosworth R. G., & Dobkins, K. R. (2002). Visual field asymmetries for motion processing in deaf and hearing signers. "Brain and Cognition," 49, 170-181; Samar, V. J., & Parasnis, I. (2005).…

Analysis of spontaneous storytelling samples of deaf 5- to 7-year-olds (N=15), all exposed to manually coded English for some time, differentially showed characteristics more consistent with either English or Sign Language in the language areas of explicit relations, mimed relations, incorporated relations, and English Functors. (CB)

Concentrates on philosophical principles which agencies should consider when beginning programs for the deaf. Methods and techniques become secondary to a proper outlook for the deaf and for those working with them. (RW)

This observational study examined the development and use of communication in a pair of deaf and hearing monozygotic twins from 13 to 36 months of age. Both children were enrolled in a total communication preschool program. In contrast to the hearing twin, the deaf twin used imitative (rather than responsive) signs and gestures. (Author/DB)

This study with 14 prelingually deaf adults seeking counseling found that the use of "lay" counselors using sign language was effective; these deaf individuals varied greatly in their problems, needs, and potentials; these adults accepted their deafness; and all had some positive resources in either their emotional network (family) or social…