Describes a study that analyzed and described humorous productions of deaf children and the reaction of other deaf children to those productions. One finding was that primarily verbal humor was appreciated more by older children with hearing parents; humor characterized by sign complexity, by children with deaf parents. (SED)

Two methods (signs presented with or without accompanying verbal label) of training autistic children to use manual signs were compared. The efficacy of training in both treatment conditions was demonstrated but no clear differences in acquisition speed across conditions were apparent. (Author/CL)

A 13-year-old communicatively and intellectually delayed male was taught to use discriminatively each of two previously acquired augmentative systems that consisted of signing and direct select letter encoding. Procedures used resulted in the use of signs with signers and direct select encoding with nonsigners. (Author)

Presents a method to determine how signs in American Sign Language are recognized by signers. The method uses natural settings and avoids common artificialities found in prior work. A pilot study is described involving language research with Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins in which the method was successfully used. (SED)

Eighty-four sign glosses in the elementary-aged lexicon and 87 in the adolescent/adult lexicon for language-impaired severely mentally retarded individuals were examined for usefulness in terms of eight variables. Concept concreteness and word frequency were significantly represented for adolescent/adult lexicons but not for elementary lexicons.…

It often comes as a surprise to people that many deaf people refer to themselves as being members of Deaf culture. The American Deaf culture is a unique linguistic minority that uses American Sign Language (ASL) as its primary mode of communication. This tipsheet provides a description of Deaf culture and suggestions for effective communication.

Conceptually Signed English is advocated as a sign system for hearing impaired persons that reduces the confusion of other sign languages and takes idiomatic usage into account. (CL)

Gives the text of an interview with James Woodward on the use of American Sign Language in the classroom. Also discusses the teaching of English in deaf and hearing situations. Available from the English Department, Gallaudet College, Washington, DC 20002. (EKN)

Discusses how to use currently available standard ESL material with deaf students. Available from the English Department, Gallaudet College, Washington, DC 20002. (EKN)

Discusses the special problems of interpreting hymns written in archaic English and then matching words of a translation to music. Addresses the question of whether competence in ASL and knowledge of signs for religious terms are sufficient for hymns to be of value to deaf worshippers. (EKN)

A communication program of Amer-Ind (a gestural communication system based on American Indian Hand Talk) was developed for 21 severely and profoundly mentally retarded children (8 to 18 years old). (Author)

American Sign Language (ASL), the native language of the deaf, should be used in the classroom to assess its value in the overall educational development of deaf children. Other sign systems in greater use fail to account for the cultural effect of ASL in the deaf community. (Author)

Reports on an investigation of American Sign Language signs relating to the deaf gay community or used exclusively by its members. Both heterosexual and homosexual informants were used to determine which signs were known only to the gay community. Attitudes of both groups toward these words was also explored. (Author/PJM)

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)