[Sign language, a Danish dialect?].
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Communication↗
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The sign language's new look.
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Deafness↗
Brain organization for language: clues from sign aphasia.
Since sign language conveys many grammatical relations by manipulating spatial relations, its study provides a unique opportunity to investigate cerebral specialization for language. Three deaf signers with damage to the left hemisphere were administered an array of formal sign language tests and a linguistic analysis of their spontaneous signing was performed. All three signers showed aphasia for sign language. Strikingly, in these patients, differential damage within the left hemisphere appeared to lead to selective impairment of the structural layers of sign language (e.g. lexicon versus grammar). These data provide the first demonstration of grammatical breakdown in sign language. Importantly, the language impairments of these patients stood in marked contrast to their relatively intact capacities to process nonlanguage visual-spatial relationships. These results suggest that the two cerebral hemispheres of deaf signers can develop separate specializations for linguistic and for visual-spatial processing, even for a visual-spatial language. They further suggest that the left hemisphere has an innate predisposition for language.
Adult↗
Apraxia and aphasia for a visual-gestural language.
Since signed languages utilize visual-gestural channels, their study allows a unique opportunity for insight into the ways language and gesture may be represented in the brain. The separability of apraxia and aphasia for sign language was examined in four deaf signers who had unilateral brain damage, three to the left hemisphere and one to the right hemisphere. These patients were administered various tests for apraxia and a test of pantomime recognition. The patient with damage to the right hemisphere was not apraxic as we would expect. For the patients with damage to the left hemisphere, all of whom were aphasic for sign language, strong dissociations emerged between their capacities for sign language and their nonlinguistic motor skills. The language deficits of these patients seemed related to specific linguistic components of sign language rather than to an underlying motor disorder or an underlying disorder in the capacity to express and comprehend symbols of any kind. This separation between linguistic and nonlinguistic function is all the more striking, because sign language and gesture are transmitted in the same modality.
Adult↗
The linguistic basis of left hemisphere specialization.
In humans the two cerebral hemispheres of the brain are functionally specialized with the left hemisphere predominantly mediating language skills. The basis of this lateralization has been proposed to be differential localization of the linguistic, the motoric, or the symbolic properties of language. To distinguish among these possibilities, lateralization of spoken language, signed language, and nonlinguistic gesture have been compared in deaf and hearing individuals. This analysis, plus additional clinical findings, support a linguistic basis of left hemisphere specialization.
Adult↗
Hemispheric specialization for the processing of linguistic and non-linguistic stimuli in congenitally deaf and hearing adults: a review and contribution.
Congenitally deaf individuals, interpreters for the deaf and hearing controls viewed words, dots, American sign language signs and drawings of objects presented tachistoscopically. The stimuli were presented both bilaterally and unilaterally to the subjects. The deaf subjects showed a significant left visual field (LVF) superiority for the processing of the drawings while the nondeaf groups showed significant right visual field (RVF) advantages. Laterality differences between groups on the other tasks were nonsignificant. The deaf group also showed a significant LVF advantage in the bilateral condition across all tasks as opposed to a RVF advantage yielded by nondeaf groups. A significant LVF advantage for words and dots was found compared to the RVF advantage for signs across all subjects. The differences between deaf and nondeaf groups are discussed in terms of processing strategies and the critical period for language acquisition theory.
Adult↗
The medical communication of deaf patients.
As language is such a fundamental tool in the determination of a diagnosis and in patient education, non-English-speaking patients and deaf patients often suffer from inferior medical care. Deaf adults and adults studying English as a second language (third- to fifth-grade English-comprehension level) were compared. Participants completed a survey and a test of commonly used medical vocabulary. The two populations did not differ significantly in education level or in vocabulary test scores. Deaf patients were often less able to speak to their physician in their customary language (sign language); as a result, they perceive greater difficulties in expressing themselves to their physicians and reexplain themselves less frequently in response to misunderstandings. It is clear that deaf patients should be recognized as a subset of non-English-speaking patients who are at increased risk for poor physician-patient communication.
Adult↗
[The child with defective hearing. Medical, educational, sociological and psychological aspects].
Hearing impairment in children is considered in its various aspects: medical, sociological, psychological, and educational. After a review of the aetiologies, the biological consequences of early auditory deprivation are underlined. The necessity of avoiding or reducing them justifies the efforts made to insure early diagnosis and adequate intervention. Screening and diagnostic techniques are described and illustrated by current results. The particular features of deafness, which stands out among other physical handicaps by the fact that it has given birth to a language, sign language, are stressed and the resulting socio-cultural implications are described. The relationships between deafness and psychology are treated so as to point out that there are no psychological features which characterize deafness, but that it can lead to several cognitive and behavioural consequences. The multiple interventions requested by a child's hearing impairment are detailed, emphasizing that medical or surgical actions must be part of a team work. The physician is called upon to play an essential part in this work, which he can correctly fulfill only by taking into account the sociological, cultural, psychological, educational and prosthetic aspects. The principles of prosthetic adaptation and the different types of prosthetic devices are presented, with special mention of recent and prospective developments. After a historical survey of deaf education, the evolution of ideas and methods from 1972 to 1987 is related, and the presently utilized methods are described and discussed. The different educational structures and their respective merits are outlined, as well as the action in favour of deaf children and their families of social services and parental cooperation.
Audiometry↗
First stage of language acquisition through two modalities in deaf and hearing children.
We consider the earliest stages of language acquisition in both vocal and gestural modalities. The basic hypothesis is that there is a kind of equipotentiality between the two modalities and that the choice between the two depends on the linguistic input to which the child is exposed. We set forth the results of studies conducted in deaf and hearing children who acquire as native language the sign language used by deaf persons (gestural modality) and discuss the data on language acquisition in hearing and deaf children exposed to the American Sign Language (ASL) and in deaf children exposed to the Italian Sign Language (LIS). We go on to present the results of work in deaf children exposed to a bimodal Italian input. Against the background of studies in hearing children exposed to spoken Italian only we discuss the role of the gestural modality in the language acquisition of these children from the holophrastic to the diphrastic period. The comparison of sign language acquisition and spoken language acquisition will enable us to assess which aspects may be considered universal and which modality-related.
Adolescent↗
Hand dominance for signing: clues to brain lateralization of language.
Virtually all right-handed individuals are left hemisphere dominant for language. Sign languages of the deaf provide an unusual vehicle for exploring the link between handedness and hemispheric specialization for language since in sign language the hands themselves are the language articulators. Performance of the right and left hand was examined in deaf native users of American Sign Language (ASL) for speeded production of one-handed signs and for shadowing of signed discourse. Opposite patterns of asymmetries in hand performance were found in right- and left-handers. However, left-handers were more flexible than right-handers in signing with their non-preferred hand. Furthermore, unusual patterns of hand use for sign were found in a deaf signer with a left hemisphere lesion, possibly indexing increased mediation of the intact hemisphere. Implications for brain organization of language in a visual-gestural mode are discussed.
Adult↗
A method for transcribing signed and spoken language.
Transcribing sign communication used simultaneously with spoken English presents investigators with a unique problem: the singular quality of the bimodal communicative interactions cannot be accurately depicted using accepted conventions for recording either spoken or signed language samples. This article proposes guidelines for transcribing such data. The need for guidelines arose during an earlier study of the language development of a hearing child of deaf parents. To meet the immediate needs of that study, rules and conventions from previous studies were combined with newly generated ones, resulting in the guidelines proposed in this article. The guidelines can be applied to data in which intermodal linguistic influence is suspected.
Communication Methods, Total↗
Improvements in the signing skills of hearing parents of deaf children.
Most deaf children are born to hearing parents. Yet, many hearing parents are unable to communicate clearly and unambiguously with their deaf offspring. This study looked at changes in the number of parents of deaf offspring who learn sign language, and the signing skills of those parents. It found that over the years the signing skills of these parents have been improving. Of the younger deaf offspring in this study, 73% reported that their parents knew some sign language. Younger offspring rated their parents' signing skills higher than did older offspring. These results may indicate that more parents are now learning sign language.
Adult↗
Family therapy with deaf persons: the systemic utilization of an interpreter.
This paper discusses the theory and practice of providing family therapy to families in which there are hearing parents and at least one Deaf child, particularly regarding the optimal utilization of an interpreter. The therapist must be knowledgeable about the psychosocial effects of deafness, the cultural aspects of deafness, and preferably be able to use American Sign Language and Signed English. The therapeutic benefit of utilizing an interpreter extends far beyond simply facilitating communication between each family member whose primary-language is either spoken English or Sign Language. The presence of an interpreter helps the therapist to modify family rules that deny the implications of deafness and prohibit the use of Sign Language, to modify the balance of power in the family, and to encourage participants to exhibit the ego defense mechanisms of projection and transference. The family therapist can utilize those subtle yet profound influences to therapeutic advantage.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Language, modality and the brain.
Studies of the signed languages of deaf people have shown that fully expressive languages can arise, outside of the mainstream of spoken languages, that exhibit the complexities of linguistic organization found in all spoken languages. Thus, the human capacity for language is not linked to some privileged cognitive-auditory connection. However, the formal properties of languages (spoken or signed) appear to be highly conditioned by the modalities involved in their perception and production. Multi-layering of linguistic elements and the use of space in the service of syntax appear to be modality-determined aspects of signed languages. Analyses of patterns of breakdown of signed languages provide new perspectives on the nature of cerebral organization for language. The studies reviewed in this article show that the left cerebral hemisphere in man is specialized for signed as well as spoken languages, and thus may have an innate predisposition for language, independent of language modality.
Adult↗
Cerebral asymmetry in congenitally deaf subjects.
Congenitally deaf subjects exposed to tachistoscopic presentation of English words, British Sign Language (BSL) signs, manual letters stimuli and a non-verbal task showed a left hemisphere advantage for English words and signs, a right hemisphere advantage for manual letters and no field differences for the non-verbal task.
Deafness↗
[The effects of early manual instruction on the oral language development of two deaf children].
The speech and language training for deaf children at our clinic is performed using a multisensory method, which consists of reception and expression training for sign language and fingerspelling as well as auditory training, lip reading, and written language training (the Kanazawa Method). We have already reported that acquisition of written language is not dependent on oral language, and that written language is easier to learn than oral language for deaf children. In the present investigation, we analyzed the acquisition of comprehensible and expressive vocabulary in sign language and fingerspelling. The subjects were two children congenitally deaf at levels higher than 105dB. Recorded language samples by the age of 48 months were analyzed. Acquisition of sign language was found to be significantly easier than acquisition of oral language. The development of expressive noun words, function words, and Wh-question words in sign language at the early period was almost equivalent to that of hearing peers, and then the sign language appeared transfer to the oral language. These results suggest that early presentation of sign language with written and oral language is effective in the acquisition of communicative attitudes, function words and interrogative sentences which are most difficult for the hearing-impaired. It was shown that early presentation of sign language with written and oral language serves to promote acquisition of oral language.
Child↗
Training social skills to severely mentally retarded multiply handicapped adolescents.
Three severely mentally retarded, multiply handicapped, adolescents were treated in a classroom setting for social skills deficits. Two of these children exhibited symptoms of autism including periods of echolalia, and fascination with tactile and visual stimulation. One of the pair was deaf. The third child was profoundly mentally retarded and had minimal expressive language skills. All had received sign language training to facilitate communication. Treatment focused on increasing the frequency of eye contact, in seat and response to verbal prompt behaviors, skills deemed necessary to facilitate use of sign language communication and to increase social interaction. Baseline and treatment were evaluated in a multiple baseline, alternating treatment design across children. Baseline was taken on responses to 10 standard questions, asked by the teacher, based on verbal presentation and sign language. This same procedure was then continued during the initial treatment phase following training sessions. During training, the children received social reinforcement, performance feedback and edible reinforcement, in the form of candy, for appropriate performance. Physical and verbal prompts as well as pictorial cues were employed to shape appropriate behavior. In the second treatment phase, training was implemented in the classroom in which baseline data had been collected. Improvement in target behaviors, via training sessions held four days a week, was noted. These data suggest that use of a combination of visual stimuli, operant and social learning methods can remediate social skills deficits in children with multiple psychological and physical deficits. The implications of these findings for current and future research are discussed.
Achievement↗
Dissociation between linguistic and nonlinguistic gestural systems: a case for compositionality.
This paper addresses the issue of the separability of disorders of sign language from disorders of gesture and pantomime. The study of a left-lesioned deaf signer presents one of the most striking examples to date of the cleavage between linguistic signs and manual pantomime. The left-hemisphere lesion produced a marked sign language aphasia disrupting both the production and the comprehension of sign language. However, in sharp contrast to the breakdown of sign language, the ability to communicate in nonlinguistic gesture was remarkably spared. This case has important implications for our understanding of the neural mediation of language and gesture. We argue that the differences observed in the fractionation of linguistic versus nonlinguistic gesture reflect differing degrees of compositionality of systems underlying language and gesture. The compositionality hypothesis receives support for the existence of phonemic paraphasias in sign language production, illustrating structural dissolution which is absent in the production of pantomimic gesture. Understanding the neural encoding of compositional motoric systems may lead to a principled anatomical account of the neural separability of language and gesture. This case provides a powerful indication of the left hemisphere's specialization for language-specific functions.
Aphasia↗