Facilitation of early speech development in a dysphatic child by use of signed Norwegian.
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Aphasia↗
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On the evidence for linguistic abilities in signing apes.
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Adult↗
Disconnection syndrome in a right-handed patient with right hemispheric speech dominance.
The callosal disconnection syndrome is characterized by unilateral (left) tactile anomia, unilateral (left) agraphia and unilateral (left) ideomotor apraxia. We report on a right-handed patient, who developed a callosal disconnection syndrome due to the rupture of an anterior communicant aneurysm. As he had right hemisphere dominance for language and praxis, the signs described above were crossed. He also featured a left alien hand sign and motor aprosody. The authors believe this is the first case of callosal disconnection in a right-hander with crossed language and praxis functions.
Adult↗
Selective imitation for a private sign system.
A distinctive feature of all human languages is the diverse and arbitrary nature of the sign (signifier). This can be interpreted as stating that the mapping between signals and referents is established by convention rather than by functional constraints. This property of the sign provides for a great deal of linguistic flexibility and is a key component of symbolic communication. Game theoretic models to describe signal imitation are investigated with a view to understanding how non-arbitrary (indexical) animal-style signals might 'evolve' culturally into diverse, arbitrary signs. I explore the evolutionary hypothesis that private, arbitrary signs emerge as a result of selective imitation within a socially structured population. Once arbitrary signs have emerged, they contribute towards greater assortative interactions among individuals using a shared sign system. In natural populations, the models for imitation will very often be close kin. Hence, kinship provides one mechanism for the creation of true symbols. An imitation-structured population can support many more sign systems than an equivalent non-structured population and is one in which symbols become the dominant force in assortative interactions.
Animal Communication↗
Language sampling in deaf children: a comparison of oral and signed communication modes.
Fourteen deaf children (eight from total communication and six from oral classes) and seven non-hearing-impaired peers were given a number of tasks designed to elicit spontaneous language. These tasks included retelling stories they had previously read aloud (read), retelling stories told to them with accompanying pictures (told), and responding to questions about pictures (pictures). Traditional language sampling indices of verbal output, syntactic structure, and communicativeness were derived, and differences among groups and methods of elicitation were ascertained. Results favored hearing children on all measures. When comparing the two deaf groups, few differences emerge on measures of verbal output and communicativeness. On syntactic measures, the oral group performed significantly better on a number of tasks. These differences were discussed in terms of the impact of communication mode on language instruction for deaf children.
Child↗
Children and adolescents with chronic cerebellar lesions show no clinically relevant signs of aphasia or neglect.
We studied language and visuospatial functions of 12 children and adolescents who had undergone surgery for cerebellar astrocytoma without subsequent radiation or chemotherapy and compared them with 27 age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy control subjects. To study possible lateralization of the functions of the left and right cerebellar hemispheres, subjects performed several language tasks including a verb-generation task as well as standard neglect and extinction tests. Three-dimensional-MR images confirmed that lesions affected cerebellar hemispheres in all children but one who had a pure vermal lesion. The right cerebellar hemisphere was affected in six, the left hemisphere in four children, and both hemispheres in one child. There were no signs of aphasia in the children or adolescents with cerebellar lesions. Language abilities did not differ between cerebellar patients and control subjects except for small increases in reaction times in verb generation in patients with left-sided lesions. Visuospatial functions were also intact in cerebellar subjects except for minor group differences in neglect tasks. In sum, chronic focal cerebellar lesions acquired in childhood or youth do not result in persistent language disorders or clinically significant signs of spatial neglect or extinction.
Adolescent↗
Recent use of signs by chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes) in interactions with humans.
In light of the controversy about the linguistic properties of chimpanzee signing behavior, the recent sign use of 5 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) with long histories of sign use was analyzed while they interacted with longtime human companions. Four corpora from 1992 to 1999 consisting of 3,448 sign utterances were examined. The chimpanzees predominantly used object and action signs. There was no evidence for semantic or syntactic structure in combinations of signs. Longer combinations showed repetition and stringing of object and action signs. The chimpanzees mostly signed with an acquisitive motivation. Requests for objects and actions were the predominant communicative intentions of the sign utterances, though naming and answering also occurred. This recent sign use shows multiple differences with (early) human language.
Animal Communication↗
What children contribute to language-learning.
There may be no greater testament to the resilience of language in humans than the observation that, when deprived of a language entirely, children will invent one nonetheless. Deaf children whose access to usable conventional linguistic input, signed or spoken, is severely limited develop gesture systems to communicate with the hearing individuals around them. The children's gestures resemble natural language in that they are structured at both sentence and word levels. Although the inclination to use gesture to communicate may be traceable to the fact that the deaf children's hearing parents (like all speakers) gesture as they talk, the deaf children themselves appear to be responsible for introducing language-like structure into their gestures. In particular, the structural properties found in the deaf children's gesture systems cannot be traced to the gestures that their hearing parents use with them, nor can they be traced to the way in which the parents respond to the children's gestures.
Child↗
Immune disorders and handedness in dyslexic boys and their relatives.
Thirty dyslexic and 30 control boys aged 7-11 years were compared for frequency of immune disorders and handedness as well as for family history of immune disorders and learning disabilities (dyslexia and stuttering). They were also compared for neurological status and for history of speech and language difficulties. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the frequency of immune disorders and in handedness. The results showed significantly more dyslexic boys with soft neurological signs and signs of speech and language disorders. The frequency of dyslexia was significantly higher in the relatives of the dyslexic boys. Also significantly more mothers of the dyslexic boys reported difficulties during pregnancy and complications at delivery. The results are discussed in terms of Geschwind's hypothesis and neuromaturational delay as possible determinants of developmental dyslexia.
Autoimmune Diseases↗
Artificial language comprehension and size transposition by a California sea lion (Zalophus californianus).
A variation of the conditional discrimination procedure defines relations between stimuli (for example, gestural signs and their referents), and it has been used to study language comprehension in California sea lions. The animals followed instructions given by a trainer's gestures designating properties of size, brightness, and location (adjectives), types of objects (nouns), and actions (verbs). The signs can be combined and recombined according to a conditional sequence or syntax. In this study, we sought to determine whether adjectives for size had an absolute meaning, that is, small and large, as well as a comparative meaning, that is, smaller and larger. A sea lion, Rocky, was given experience with signs designating standard small and large spheres in commands like LARGE BALL MOUTH. On transposition tests, the small ball was removed and the previously designated large ball was paired with an even larger one. The results showed that the adjectives had both an absolute and a relative meaning. Object choices and searching behavior revealed that the sea lion processed information about the relation of size as well as about the specific characteristics of the sizes of spheres that instantiated the relations.
Animals↗
[Plastic expression in psychopathology. III. Drawings-signs. A case of delusional graphic parasymbolism: the "deological" language].
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Humans↗
Manual communication and mental retardation: a review of research and implications.
The use of manual communication systems with individuals classified as mentally retarded is increasing; the extent to which that therapy is guided by systematic practices and principles was investigated. An analysis of the research literature suggested that a variety of sign systems have been used with retarded individuals of varying ages. The application or success or failure of that therapy does not seem to be determined by a particular treatment model and/or set of guidelines. Implications for development of language-training programs were discussed.
Adolescent↗
Augmentative communication systems taught to cerebral palsied children--a longitudinal study. I. The acquisition of signs and symbols, and syntactic aspects of their use over time.
A longitudinal study of augmentative communication training with 40 language-impaired, cerebral palsied children examined the acquisition of Blissymbols and Makaton Vocabulary signs and syntactic aspects of their use over an 18-month period. The children made measurable gains in these areas over time, but progress was very slow and they continued to show severe limitations in the repertoires of signs/symbols they acquired and in the average number, length and complexity of utterances they produced in semi-structured conversational settings. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed with reference to subject and system characteristics, and the teaching practices adopted in the schools. Comparisons between the Bliss and signing groups suggest that neither augmentative system facilitated greater progress in sign/symbol acquisition and use than the other. However, there was wide variability in performance among the children within each group.
Cerebral Palsy↗
The Effect of Singing Paired with Signing on Receptive Vocabulary Skills ofElementary ESL Students.
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of singing paired with signing on receptive vocabulary skills of elementary English as a Second Language (ESL) students. Eighty children attended language sessions in one of the following rehearsal conditions: sung text paired with signs, spoken text paired with signs, sung text, and a control group of spoken text only. Pretest and posttest data were analyzed to determine gains in receptive vocabulary identification. Results from this study indicate that all four groups made significant pretest to posttest gains. Children in the sung text paired with sign and the spoken text paired with sign conditions, however, made significantly greater gains in vocabulary recognition than those in the control condition of spoken text only. These findings suggest the benefits of integrating signs into second language rehearsal to provide visual cues and to engage students in meaningful physical participation. The condition yielding the highest mean gain score was that in which signing was paired with singing, indicating there may be advantages to using a combination of the two for language acquisition.
Journal Article↗
Sign programs with nonverbal hearing children.
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Child↗
Evidence-based overview of ophthalmic disorders in deaf children: a literature update.
BACKGROUND: Deaf children are heavily reliant on the sense of vision in order to develop efficient communication skills and explore the world around them. Any ophthalmic disorder may thus negatively impact on this process, especially if it is unrecognised in the early years of life. These disorders may be correctable (such as myopia) or treatable (such as cataract), and their early identification is of the utmost importance to optimise language development (spoken or sign, or both) and develop social cognition. Those children with non-correctable and non-treatable visual disorders, like retinitis pigmentosa in Usher syndrome, require multiple environmental adaptations and appropriate support services and information. AIM: : To review the accumulated scientific knowledge on ophthalmic disorders in deaf children and assess the quality of evidence published in the literature in order to contribute to better diagnosis and management of these conditions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The project reviewed more than 1000 published papers and other sources. 191 papers complied with the aims of the study and were used in the project. From these studies, 95% were based on type III or IV evidence (mainly descriptive studies or case reports). Only 3% were based on type II evidence and 2% on type I evidence. RESULTS-CONCLUSIONS: The main conclusions of this project are: a) the overall quality of evidence in the literature concerning deaf children and their ophthalmic problems is very low, b) the prevalence of ophthalmic problems in deaf children is very high (approximately 40% to 60%) and these problems may remain undetected for years although they may have a serious impact on children's acquisition of communication skills, c) screening for ophthalmic problems in deaf children should be encouraged and specialist ophthalmic examination should be carried out as soon as the diagnosis of deafness is confirmed irrespective of age, and may need to be repeated at intervals following diagnosis, d) families should be informed about the nature of the screening process in discussion with the relevant professionals and appropriate information should be available in a range of formats and in different community languages, e) professionals administering the tests should be familiar with the needs of deaf children with ophthalmic problems and should be sensitive to the communication needs of the child, especially undertaking behavioural testing where their collaboration is needed, f) while orthoptists can perform the majority of psychophysical tests (visual and stereo acuity tests, ocular motility tests, etc.) a comprehensive opthalmologic assessment by slit lamp biomicroscopy, streak retinoscopy, direct and indirect ophthalmoscopy, intraocular pressure measurement etc is required. Electrophysiologic testing to help identification of Usher syndrome may also be required, and finally g) serial hearing assessments of children with dual sensory deficits are needed to monitor hearing thresholds, to optimise hearing aid use and to ensure timely referral for cochlear implantation for those who need it.
Child↗
Signs of speech: cooperating in deaf education.
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Achievement↗
Gestural communication in deaf children: the effects and noneffects of parental input on early language development.
We previously reported that deaf children of hearing parents can develop a gestural communication system with some of the observed properties of early child language. In the present study, this phenomenon of gesture creation was replicated in four deaf children aged 1-4 to 3-1 at the time of the first interview. Each child, despite his atypical language-learning conditions (in particular his lack of usable conventional linguistic input, either oral or manual), developed a gesture system comparable in semantic content and structure (specifically, constructional ordering of elements, differential probabilities of production of elements, and recursive concatenation of semantic relations) to the gestural systems of the six deaf children of hearing parents in our original study and comparable as well to the spoken and sign systems of children acquiring conventional languages under typical learning conditions. This phenomenon suggests that the human child has strong biases to communicate in language-like ways. Nevertheless, it is possible that the deaf child's hearing parents, and not the child himself, were responsible for the emergence of the child's structured (yet idiosyncratic) gesture system. To investigate this possibility, we considered three possible parental influences on the child's sentence structures. First, we entertained the hypothesis that the children's sign sentences were merely imitations (perhaps even uncomprehending imitations) of a hearing adult's immediately preceding gestures. Second, we considered the possibility that the regularities underlying the deaf children's structured sign sentences were induced from their hearing parents' gestures taken in toto. Finally, we considered the possibility that the deaf children's sign sentences had been shaped by their parents' responses to those sentences. We found no evidence to support any of these hypotheses. The data reported in this series of studies confirm that deaf children lacking a conventional linguistic input can develop a gestural communication system that shows some of the structural regularities characteristic of early child language. The results suggest that communication with a number of language-like properties can develop in a markedly atypical language-learning environment, even without a tutor's modeling or shaping the structural aspects of the communication. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the deaf child himself plays a seminal role in the emergence of the structural aspects of these communication systems.
Child, Preschool↗