Sign Language (sign + language)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Kinds of Sign Language

  • american sign language


  • Selected Abstracts


    Auditory neuropathy/dys-synchrony: Diagnosis and management

    DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH REVIEW, Issue 4 2003
    Charles I. Berlin
    Abstract Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) and otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) are objective measures of auditory function, but are not hearing tests. Normal OAEs reflect normal cochlear outer hair cell function, and an ABR indicates a synchronous neural response. It is quite possible for a patient to have normal OAEs but absent or grossly abnormal ABR and a behavioral audiogram that is inconsistent with either test. These patients, who may constitute as much as 10% of the diagnosed deaf population, have auditory neuropathy/dys-synchrony (AN/AD). To diagnose AN/AD accurately, ABRs are obtained in response to condensation and rarefaction clicks to distinguish cochlear microphonics (CM) from neural responses. Appropriate management is confounded by variation among patients and changes in auditory function in some patients over time. Recommendations for management include visual language exposure through methods such as American Sign Language (ASL), Cued Speech, or baby signs, and closely following patients. MRDD Research Reviews 2003;9:225,231. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


    ,Seeing voices': fused visual/auditory verbal hallucinations reported by three persons with schizophrenia-spectrum disorder

    ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 4 2006
    R. E. Hoffman
    Objective:, The neurocognitive basis of verbal/auditory hallucinations remains uncertain. A leading hypothesis is that these hallucinations correspond to ordinary inner speech mislabeled as non-self. However, some studies suggest pathogenic activation of receptive language neurocircuitry as the cause. A form of visualized verbal hallucinations not previously reported in the literature is described that may shed light on this controversy. Method:, Review of three cases. Results:, Two patients described visual hallucinations of speech-like lip and mouth movements fused with simultaneous auditory verbal hallucinations superimposed on perceptions of faces of actual persons in their immediate environment. A third patient described similar experiences incorporated into visual hallucinations of human figures who also exhibited finger and hand movements corresponding to American Sign Language. Conclusion:, These fused, multimodal verbal hallucinations seem unlikely to be due to inner speech mislabeled as non-self, and instead suggest top-down re-shaping of activation in visual processing brain centers by pathogenically active receptive language neurocircuitry. [source]


    Encoding of Facial Expressions of Emotion and Knowledge of American Sign Language

    JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2000
    NAOMI E. GOLDSTEIN
    The relationship between knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL) and the ability to encode facial expressions of emotion was explored. Participants were 55 college students, half of whom were intermediate-level students of ASL and half of whom had no experience with a signed language. In front of a video camera, participants posed the affective facial expressions of happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, and disgust. These facial expressions were randomized onto stimulus tapes that were then shown to 60 untrained judges who tried to identify the expressed emotions. Results indicated that hearing subjects knowledgeable in ASL were generally more adept than were hearing nonsigners at conveying emotions through facial expression. Results have implications for better understanding the nature of nonverbal communication in hearing and deaf individuals. [source]


    Metasemiotic Regimentation in the Standardization of Nepali Sign Language

    JOURNAL OF LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 2 2008
    Erika Hoffmann-Dilloway
    Both the linguistic forms attended to and the ways in which they are linked to the social vary within and across language standardization projects. In addition, it cannot be assumed that people will notice the same indexical connections between linguistic forms and social structures or rationalize them in the same ways. An analysis of the project to standardize Nepali Sign Language highlights the fact that it is therefore necessary to account for the processes by which standardization projects attempt to reduce variation not only in the formal properties of language but also in the wider semiotic interpretations of those forms.[Nepal, d/Deaf, standardization, language ideologies, semiotic indeterminacy] [source]


    Inferencing skills of adolescent readers who are hearing impaired

    JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 3 2003
    John Doran
    Two experiments examined the inferencing abilities of a group of adolescents who were hearing impaired compared with a group of hearing children matched approximately for chronological age. The first experiment used on-line methods and suggests that pupils who are hearing impaired are less efficient at drawing inferences. When they do so correctly, they draw inferences automatically as the text is encountered in a similar manner to the hearing pupils. In the second experiment, the same material was presented to the hearing-impaired adolescents in British Sign Language. However, from the results obtained, it is not possible to comment on how the information is processed when it is presented manually, and suggestions are made on ways this might be further investigated. It is suggested that the difficulties encountered by the students who are hearing impaired, when reading implicit material, reflect the relative impoverishment of their experiential backgrounds. [source]


    Translation of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scales for Users of American Sign Language

    PUBLIC HEALTH NURSING, Issue 5 2008
    Waheedy Samady
    ABSTRACT This paper describes the translation of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) scales into American Sign Language (ASL). Translation is an essential first step toward validating the instrument for use in the Deaf community, a commonly overlooked minority community. This translated MHLC/ASL can be utilized by public health nurses researching the Deaf community to create and evaluate targeted health interventions. It can be used in clinical settings to guide the context of the provider-patient dialogue. The MHLC was translated using focus groups, following recommended procedures. 5 bilingual participants translated the MHLC into ASL; 5 others back-translated the ASL version into English. Both focus groups identified and addressed language and cultural problems before the final ASL version of the MHLC was permanently captured by motion picture photography for consistent administration. Nine of the 24 items were directly translatable into ASL. The remaining items required further discussion to achieve cultural equivalence with ASL expressions. The MHLC/ASL is now ready for validation within the Deaf community. [source]


    Early vocabulary development in deaf native signers: a British Sign Language adaptation of the communicative development inventories

    THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 3 2010
    Tyron Woolfe
    Background:, There is a dearth of assessments of sign language development in young deaf children. This study gathered age-related scores from a sample of deaf native signing children using an adapted version of the MacArthur-Bates CDI (Fenson et al., 1994). Method:, Parental reports on children's receptive and expressive signing were collected longitudinally on 29 deaf native British Sign Language (BSL) users, aged 8,36 months, yielding 146 datasets. Results:, A smooth upward growth curve was obtained for early vocabulary development and percentile scores were derived. In the main, receptive scores were in advance of expressive scores. No gender bias was observed. Correlational analysis identified factors associated with vocabulary development, including parental education and mothers' training in BSL. Individual children's profiles showed a range of development and some evidence of a growth spurt. Clinical and research issues relating to the measure are discussed. Conclusions:, The study has developed a valid, reliable measure of vocabulary development in BSL. Further research is needed to investigate the relationship between vocabulary acquisition in native and non-native signers. [source]


    Language and Theory of Mind: A Study of Deaf Children

    CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2007
    Brenda Schick
    Theory-of-mind (ToM) abilities were studied in 176 deaf children aged 3 years 11 months to 8 years 3 months who use either American Sign Language (ASL) or oral English, with hearing parents or deaf parents. A battery of tasks tapping understanding of false belief and knowledge state and language skills, ASL or English, was given to each child. There was a significant delay on ToM tasks in deaf children of hearing parents, who typically demonstrate language delays, regardless of whether they used spoken English or ASL. In contrast, deaf children from deaf families performed identically to same-aged hearing controls (N=42). Both vocabulary and understanding syntactic complements were significant independent predictors of success on verbal and low-verbal ToM tasks. [source]


    Everyday activities and social contacts among older deaf sign language users: Relationships to health and well-being

    OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY INTERNATIONAL, Issue 4 2006
    Monica Werngren-Elgström
    Abstract The purpose of this study was to describe the everyday activities and social contacts among older deaf sign language users, and to investigate relationships between these phenomena and the health and well-being within this group. The study population comprised deaf sign language users, 65 years or older, in Sweden. Data collection was based on interviews in sign language, including open-ended questions covering everyday activities and social contacts as well as self-rated instruments measuring aspects of health and subjective well-being. The results demonstrated that the group of participants was homogeneous in their productive and leisure activities, regardless of gender and age. The number of productive activities was related to all aspects of health, while the number of leisure activities was related to perceived health and subjective well-being. No significant relationship was found between aspects of health and subjective well-being and the frequency of social contacts with family/relatives or visiting the deaf club and meeting friends. It is concluded that the variety of activities at the deaf clubs are important for the subjective well-being of older deaf sign language users. Further research should investigate the importance and perceived value of the various activities at the deaf clubs. When evaluating the results of this study, the fact that the total number of participants was small, and the dropout rate was high, has to be borne in mind. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]