This study is limited standardization of the "Children's Speechreading Test" designed by Dr. Dolores S. Butt of the University of New Mexico. After studying the development of language skills in young acoustically handicapped children, she randomly selected subjects from 10 nursery schools and primary departments of schools for the deaf and administered her test to these children. The purpose of the present study is to provide a limited standardization of the "Children's speechreading Test" on normal hearing children. Although Dr. Butt indicates some relation of her test to intelligence, no attempt was made in this pilot study to correlate mental ability with speechreading ability. The "children's Speechreading Test" reproduced in complete form in Appendix A, was administered to 20 normal hearing children, all of whom were in the first grade. Information in the form of raw scores was then to utilized in calculating the standard deviation and percentile scores. Information gained from administering the test was also to be utilized to predict further investigation regarding the usefulness of this test. In addition a further purpose of this pilot project was to compile the materials necessary for administration of the test for future use in the Portland State University Speech and Hearing Clinic.

The purpose of this dissertation was three-fold. The first intent was to investigate the historical role of English and American Sign Language (ASL) in the communication, education and culture of deaf/Deaf people in America. The second purpose was to investigate sociolinguistical and physiological properties of American Sign Language in light of language learning among the deaf. And the third objective was to research bilingual education methodologies in order to interface knowledge and practices from bilingual education, communication and ASL research to the field of post-secondary education of the deaf within the framework of bilingual education. Evidence demonstrates that the history of language policies and educational practices for the deaf are strongly influenced by the majority language of English. A primary goal of education of the deaf has been the assimilation of deaf people into the hearing society. An avenue for this integration has traditionally involved the exclusion of ASL from the classroom and the mandate of Signed English systems and/or aural/oral communication. The incorporation of a cross-disciplinary blend of communication, bilingual education and ASL sociolinguistic aspects form the foundation for further investigation. This dissertation should serve as an impetus and reference point for others wishing to advance the education of the deaf, utilizing a bilingual approach.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between hearing mothers' methods of communication with their prelingually deaf childern, and those children's reading comprehension scores, as measured by the Stanford Achievement Test, Special Edition for Hearing Impaired Students, 1973, (SAT-HI). The subjects of this study were 201 prelingually deaf students from six randomly selected residential schools for the deaf from throughout the United States. All subjects had hearing losses of 91db (ANSI) or greater, had lost their hearing before age three, used some form of manual communication as their primary method of learning and communicating, were ages 11.25 through 19.83, had been enrolled for at least the past three years in residential schools which subscribed to the total communication philosophy, had no additional handicapping conditions, had natural mothers who were able to complete the Mother's Questionnaire, came from families who used English as the primary spoken language, and had parents whose hearing was normal. Questionnaires were sent to schools and mothers to obtain information regarding the dependent variable (reading comprehension scores); the primary independent variables (methods of communication used by mothers, ages of the children when signing mothers began to use manual communication, and skill levels of mothers who used manual communication); and a number of secondary independent variables. The date were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients, multiple ANOVA's, multiple regression analysis and analysis of covariance. Chronological age and non-verbal IQ acted as covariates. Results indicated that, for the subjects of this study, the method of communication used by mothers of prelingually deaf children had no significant relationship with their children's reading comprehension scores. Of the subjects whose mothers used manual communication, no significant relationship was found between reading comprehension and the ages of the children when their mothers began to sign with them. Conversely, a significant relationship was found between reading comprehension scores and signing skill levels of mothers as reported by both mothers and schools. Because of questionable validity of some of the measures, difficulties in interpretation of the ANCOVA, inability to control for ethnic background, limitations in subject selection, and the small number of subjects in Group 1; the findings of this study should be considered to be speculative, at best.

One of the most debilitating impairments of autistic and other behaviorally disordered children is an inability to communicate. Increasing documentation of the successful acquisition of sign language by these children has intensified the need for experimental analyses of teaching procedures and their effects on behavior. This study investigated the relationship between sign language acquisition and speech acquisition as well as the role of language acquisition in reducing the stereotypic and inappropriate behaviors common to this population. Speech training was compared with two sign language training procedures in an alternating treatments time series design. A modeled sign treatment based on visual imitation was compared with a prompted sign treatment based on physical manipulation of children's hands to determine which of the two stimuli, the visual model or the physical manipulation, promoted most rapid sign acquisition. Four preschool autistic children with minimal linguistic skills were the subjects of this study. Data on speech and sign acquisition as well as the occurrence of interfering behavior under all treatment conditions were recorded and visually analyzed. Minimal changes in speech and sign behavior occurred under the speech and modeled sign treatments. The prompted sign treatment resulted in the most rapid sign acquisition. The procedures of the prompted sign treatment allowed the teacher to physically prompt sign responses and to follow these responses with reinforcement. The effectiveness of the prompted sign procedure was attributed to the frequent reinforcement schedule of this treatment. The lowest levels of interfering behavior were also recorded under the prompted sign treatment. It was hypothesized that differential reinforcement of an alternative behavior, signing, accounted for this observation. The impact of language competency on the rate of interfering behavior is also discussed. One child began to speak when a repetitive speech model was introduced after sign acquisition. Words that had been previously signed were uttered first and most intelligibly. The acquisition of imitative sign skills and subsequent environmental control through language are explored as factors which facilitate speech development.

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Thesis (Ph.D.)—Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1981. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 185-192). / This electronic version was scanned from a copy of the thesis on file at the Speech Communication Group. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Whitaker Health Sciences Fund.

Thesis (Masters Diploma (Electrical Engineering) -- Cape Technikon, Cape Town,1991 / Communication in all its various forms, has always played an important role in both the business and social environments. The conventional telephone, taken more often than not for granted, is responsible for keeping over five million people in South Africa alone, in daily contact. For the deaf and mute society, of which their are approximately 300 000 in South Africa, the telephone, on its own, has remained a useless gadget. Without the aid of a personal computer or terminal and a modem, communication for the deaf via the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) has been impossible. Use of computers may be one way of overcoming this obvious problem, but expense now becomes the more important issue. To analyse the situation, two issues had to be taken into consideration. The first is, what makes the above solution so expensive, and the secondly, is thi!t expensive equipment necessary to complete the relatively simple task of interactive communication. The technology built into todays personal computers is continuously changing and in order to keep up with these changes, regular upgrades to the computer are necessary if one intends being able to recover ones investment at a later stage. The cost of a modem, with its sophisticated error-eorrection routines and auto-dial software, can also increase the initial outlay considerably. Bearing these costs in mind, it must now be investigated how one can achieve the objective of communicating with only the bear essential. By replacing the PC's monitor with a Liquid Crystal Display, the powerful processor with a relatively simple one, eliminating the disk storage entirely, reducing the on-board ROM!RAM memory, and finally, substituting a single-chip low speed modem for the free standing modem, the cost can be drastically reduced. By combining all these components together and developing a program to control them, the result is the 'Voiceless Telephone".