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In an attempt to make up for a dearth of literature on deaf adolescents, the author offers a definition of "deafness" and "deaf culture" in the U.S., explains the social roles that people take depending on their audiologic and social characteristics, discusses controversies surrounding American Sign Language, and suggests ways for practitioners to approach and offer services to deaf adolescents.
We surveyed parents of school-aged hearing impaired children to investigate their awareness and knowledge of the special needs of their child, especially in the area of the usage of hearing aids and methods of communication. Questionnaires were distributed to parents of hearing impaired children at 13 special schools for the deaf in Malaysia. Out of 1,267 questionnaires given out, 787 (62.1%) were completed and returned. Results of the survey indicated the majority of parents (68.6%) suspected hearing loss late, that is after their child's first birthday, and there was a significant time lag before the suspicion was confirmed. Over 82.8% of the children were diagnosed only after 1 year of age, with 41.3% being diagnosed after 3 years of age. Hearing aids were fitted late (mean = 5.32 years; SD = 2.66). Hearing aid ownership was influenced by the factors of socio-economic level and ethnic group (p < 0.01) whereas knowledge of use and proper care of the aids was influenced by socio-economic level (p < 0.01). Communication methods were generally inappropriate with 41.3% of the mothers and 48.5% of the fathers reporting ignorance of Bahasa Malaysia Kod Tangan, the sign language that is commonly used by their children. The parents' choice of communication method was not significantly influenced by socio-economic level or ethnic group. The study revealed the present inadequate state of services available for the rehabilitation of children with congenital hearing impairment.
It has been demonstrated over the last decade that some higher animals can learn sign language and communicate with humans. This finding radically alters some earlier conceptions of animals as being non-sentient, and forces a re-evaluation of the use of higher animals in research. The ethics of using animals are examined in this paper in relation to postulated levels of consciousness, and in relation to experimental design and experimental goals. In particular, an attempt is made to classify experimental situations with regard to potential psychological trauma, and to examine in detail the ethics of using higher animals in psychological research and situations in which such use can be justified. Analysis concentrates on the scientific ramifications of ethical use of animals, and concludes that in the majority of cases, ethical treatment and scientific approach are synonymous.
Deaf people experience higher rates of unemployment and underemployment and earn lifetime wages that are between $356,000 and $609,000 less than their comparably educated normally hearing counterparts. This results in a substantial loss of earning power and career identity for members of this underutilized population of workers. This article examines how communication difficulties pose a major barrier to employment retention and advancement for deaf employees. These barriers exist (a) within the employee in terms of nonfluent use of English and reliance upon American Sign Language, (b) with the employment site, and (c) with agency service personnel. Primarily, these barriers reflect a lack of understanding of the cultural and communication needs of deaf people. Strategies to ameliorate these barriers include a model of long-term employment support using an ecological framework.
Five children between the ages of 6 to 10 years using the Nucleus 22-electrode cochlear implant were tested on a battery of speech-perception tests. None of the five children used any sign language before implantation, and all received extensive training in auditory/verbal rehabilitation postimplantation. Performance ranged from 81 to 97 percent correct on the Matrix Test, from 24 to 80 percent correct on the WIPI test, from 33 to 73 percent correct on a 10-choice vowel recognition test, from 19 to 50 percent correct on a 13-choice consonant recognition test, from 2 to 46 percent words correct on a PB-K word list, from 4 to 71 percent words correct on a recorded BKB sentence test, and from 8 to 71 percent words correct on a live-voice BKB sentence test. In four of the five children, significant lipreading enhancement was observed on consonant recognition and two prelinguistically deafened children demonstrated some open-set word recognition.
Merycism (pondering, in Anglo-Saxon Literature) is an affectation that has become rare in infants but which is still news because of its potential severity. Although psychosomatic by nature, it compromise the vital prognosis if the diagnosis isn't made and appropriate psychotherapeutical measures taken in good time. Based on six cases of severe merycism, the author studies the sign-language and the diagnostic in order to specify the positive elements that must have brought about the illness. A psychopathological hypothesis of the aberrant behavior leading to this "heavy thinking" is put forth. The various psychopathological mechanisms at play in this problem are then shown based on how frustratingly isolated the baby is. Finally, treatment by intensive nurturing and its behavioral components is described as well as the evolution to a half-way point. The ending goes back to the affective meaning of the problem.
In the Greater Stockholm area, 251 children born in 1976 to 1980 had hearing loss of such a degree that they needed hearing habilitation at the time of school entrance (prevalence rate 2.8/1,000). The prevalence rates of profound hearing loss (greater than 50 dB pure tone average) and monoaural deafness were both 1.0/1,000. The etiology of the hearing loss was heredity in 45%, unknown in 35%, sequelae of otitis media in 2% and related to high-risk histories in 18%. The high-risk history group includes the eight last known cases of congenital rubella. One associated handicap was present in 25%, two extra handicaps in 6.4% and three in 1.2%. Moreover, in 17% Swedish or Swedish sign language was not the vernacular. Nineteen different languages were represented among the children. Thus, an optimal habilitation program should not be based solely on the type of hearing handicap.
Vibratory transmission is one of the first principles ofthe verbo-tonal method for the deaf child. Besides wrist vibrators, vibrating floor is a useful aid in communication with the autistic child. Complementary to oral or sign language, vibratory communication is full of possibilities in child deafness and psychosis.
Two studies compared recency and suffix effects in pictures. In Experiment 1, which used strict serial recall, the recall curve for the control condition fell sharply until the final position when it exhibited a small but significant amount of recency. No suffix effects were present. In Experiment 2, a modified free recall condition exhibited a U-shaped serial position curve and significant recency. Picture and graphic suffixes led to small, reliable end-of-sequence suffix effects, but spoken suffixes did not. Thus pictures appear to lead to recency and suffix effects similar to those produced by static visual alphanumeric stimuli when strict serial recall is used. With a modified free recall procedure, recency is enhanced and suffix effects appear. The implications of the results with pictures and of differences between the two recall procedures are discussed with respect to literature in the area on pictures (Cohen, 1972) and American Sign Language (Krakow & Hanson, 1985; Shand & Klima, 1981). Additionally, some new methods of defining and analyzing recency, which are also applicable to primacy, are proposed and used in the paper to bring out more clearly the effects present.
New techniques in tumor diagnosis allow us to improve and to refine the surgical procedure of partial laryngectomy. The first aim remains the radical tumor resection. After that we postulate a better functional surgery. Improvements were also realized using surgical voice restoration during and after laryngectomy. Technique and results are described with the use of voice prosthesis and tracheostoma valves for non-sign language speech. The treatment of laryngeal cancer today means cooperation between radiotherapy, oncology and ENT-surgery. Therefore the discussion of new developments in ENT-tumor surgery is of interest.
The purpose of this descriptive study was to compare Deaf and hearing parents' perceptions of family functioning. The Feetham Family Functioning Survey (FFFS) was administered in American Sign Language on videotape to 40 Deaf mothers and fathers and in its original written English form to a comparison group of 40 hearing mothers and fathers. There were no statistically significant differences in FFFS discrepancy (D) subscale scores among Deaf versus hearing parents. Deaf and hearing parents' scores on the FFFS importance (C) subscale items were used to identify the 10 areas of family functioning most important to the parents. Agreement among Deaf and hearing parents was noted on 7 of 10 items ranked as most important. One difference was that Deaf parents ranked leisure/recreational activities as more important than hearing parents.
Verbal speech functions are localized in right-handed subjects nearly exclusively and in left-handed ones mostly in the left hemisphere. Much information on these functions has been obtained by studying patients affected with spontaneous damages, as well as after hemispherectomy, after severing the corpus callosum, and during electric stimulation of the brain in neurosurgical procedures. In the presylvian region of the hemisphere dominant for speech, a region for the production and identification of speech was found, surrounded by an area for shortterm verbal memory. The predominance of the right ear in recognizing verbal stimuli, established by the dichotic test, applies to the population rather than to the individual. The substance of verbal dominance of the left hemisphere lies in the prevalence of its capacity to distinguish rapid acoustic sequences and to produce them. Observations made on deaf-mute patients with sign language have demonstrated that humans possess a genetically determined ability to develop speech, regardless the modality. Speech functions of the right hemisphere concern mostly nonverbal prosodic components of speech.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the educational implications of pediatric cochlear implantation from the perspective of the implant team. METHODS: Coordinators of pediatric cochlear implant teams throughout Europe took part in a survey using forced-choice questions. Fifty-four centers were originally sent the questionnaire; 41 centers replied. RESULTS: Of 504 children planned to receive cochlear implants in Europe during 1996, 54% (273/504) were aged 2-5 years and 12% (60/504) aged 0-2 years, indicating a trend toward pediatric implantation in younger children. There is a strong commitment to rehabilitation in the teams; 66% (27/41) employ a teacher of the deaf, the ratio of medical/audiological to rehabilitation personnel is 1:2, and 76% (31/41) of the implant teams visit local educators. Of all the children receiving implants to the date of this report, 23% were considered to be in unfavorable educational environments; these were environments where children were taught with an emphasis on sign language and little expectation from audition, and mainstream provision without support from experienced teachers of the deaf. CONCLUSION: There is a high staff input to children with cochlear implants from implant rehabilitation personnel over and above the input received in the educational environment. Hence, it is important for the school and the implant team to mutually agree on their shared responsibilities. Moreover, as the provision of service is variable and inconsistent, the development of guidelines for practice in each country should ensure consistency of rehabilitative and educational support to children with cochlear implants.
This case study will review the performance of a 7-year-old female who was implanted at the age of 3 years 9 months with a Nucleus 22 channel device. This child was deafened from pneumococcal meningis at the age of 8 months and was placed in an early intervention program which uses simultaneous communication (i.e. speech with sign language). The teaching staff of this particular educational setting has collaborated closely with the Cochlear Implant Center at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital and the team's teacher of the deaf. The child utilized the implant on a daily basis for a period of 2 years 10 months. Performance on a variety of auditory perceptual tests were obtained at 1 year and two year intervals. After almost 3 years of implant use, the child suffered an internal receiver failure. The Nucleus device was explanted and the child was implanted with a Clarion Cochlear Implant System. Performance on a similar set of auditory perceptual tests obtained after 3 and 6 months use indicated better performance with the Clarion device. In addition to the scores on the individual tests, a comparison questionnaire was used to obtain impressions from the parents and the school personnel. Results should be reviewed with caution since this study investigates the responses of a single child who uses each of these two different implants and cannot be generalized.
The OSCAR-project (Optimal Speech Communication Assistance for Residual Abilities) within the TIDE frame is aiming at processing the speech signal in such a way so that it can be more effectively aurally perceived than with an ordinary hearing aid in case of a very small residual hearing. In case of total deafness the code will be tactile and in some cases a multi modal approach will be tried. One of the sub-results of the OSCAR-project is a hand held vibro-tactile speech communication aid for profoundly hard of hearing and deaf persons. The main idea of the aid is that it should not be a general tactile hearing aid, but rather give optimum tactile support to lip-reading in a close communication situation. It should be used when speech communication is necessary and other methods of communication i.e. sign language, lip-reading, reading and writing etc. does not work. The aid conveys two types of information via its two vibro-tactile transducers; the syllabic rhythm and frication. This paper describes some characteristics of the aid and some results.
Although deaf children depend upon sight for communication, retinitis pigmentosa is present in 6 per cent of those with a profound hearing deficit. Usher syndrome type 1 (USH-1) is an autosomal recessive disease characterised by profound hearing impairment, absent vestibular function, and progressive loss of vision due to retinitis pigmentosa. Owing to the severe handicap of the combined disorders, early diagnosis of USH-1 is of crucial importance. The profound hearing deficit is often detected at hearing tests in infancy, but as the sight problems do not develop until later diagnosis is often delayed. The diagnosis of Usher's syndrome is established by electroretinography (ERG), as confirmation of the retinitis pigmentosa is a prerequisite. As the progressive deterioration of sight hinders the use of sign language, a cochlear implant constitutes an invaluable aid at an early age. Early diagnosis is thus of both medical and educative importance. To avoid delay in diagnosis past the age when optimal results may be expected from a cochlear implant, a screening test was sought for infants with profound hearing loss to identify those at increased risk of USH-1, for whom ERG is a priority. Although conventional vestibular testing methods are not well tolerated by infants, with recently developed equipment for video or CCI) (charge-coupled device) camera inspection of eye movements, vestibular screening can now be performed in the office. In our experience it is possible to screen most infants, given a careful approach by the investigator. Children with clinically diagnosed USH-1, without any vestibulo-ocular reflex, manifested no vestibular responses during 'video-nystagmoscopy' when rotated on the parent's lap, preliminary findings strongly suggest that vestibular function should be tested in all children with a profound congenital hearing deficit, as it is important for children with USH-1 to be provided with a cochlear implant permitting aural reception of communication from the environment at an early age, because of the progressive deterioration of vision and the ultimate double handicap.
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Divergent hypotheses exist concerning the types of knowledge underlying early bilingualism, with some portraying a troubled course marred by language delays and confusion, and others portraying one that is largely unremarkable. We studied the extraordinary case of bilingual acquisition across two modalities to examine these hypotheses. Three children acquiring Langues des Signes Québécoise and French, and three children acquiring French and English (ages at onset approximately 1;0, 2;6 and 3;6 per group) were videotaped regularly over one year while we empirically manipulated novel and familiar speakers of each child's two languages. The results revealed that both groups achieved their early linguistic milestones in each of their languages at the same time (and similarly to monolinguals), produced a substantial number of semantically corresponding words in each of their two languages from their very first words or signs (translation equivalents), and demonstrated sensitivity to the interlocutor's language by altering their language choices. Children did mix their languages to varying degrees, and some persisted in using a language that was not the primary language of the addressee, but the propensity to do both was directly related to their parents' mixing rates, in combination with their own developing language preference. The signing-speaking bilinguals did exploit the modality possibilities, and they did simultaneously mix their signs and speech, but in semantically principled and highly constrained ways. It is concluded that the capacity to differentiate between two languages is well in place prior to first words, and it is hypothesized that this capacity may result from biological mechanisms that permit the discovery of early phonological representations. Reasons why paradoxical views of bilingual acquisition have persisted are also offered.