An examination of 20 manuals designed to teach sign communication to persons with severe communication impairment revealed over 850 words appearing in two or more manuals. These words are listed in alphabetical order with their frequency of occurrence. (Author)

Immediate and one-day posttest measures were obtained from 20 nonhandicapped seven and eight year olds in a paired-associate transfer of training task using manual signs and Bliss symbols (often used with non-speaking persons). Results showed no overall difference between signs and symbols in number of correct responses on either the immediate or…

Listed with ordering information and in some cases brief annotations are 61 resources pertinent to use of manual communication by retarded, autistic, and aphasic individuals who cannot communicate effectively by speaking. (JG)

A survey of 86 persons using non-speech communication systems with retarded clients was conducted to determine which non-speech communication methods they used with which kinds of communication impaired populations. (SBH)

Suggestions of writers such as A. Holland and M. Lahey and L. Bloom are examined regarding their appropriateness for visual-manual communication and are applied to approximately 50 signs most frequently taught to retarded and autistic persons to aid in lexicon planning. Additional signs are proposed for extending this basic list. (Author/DLS)

This study examined keyword signing (KWS), a communication approach used with nonspeaking individuals. Acoustic measures and judgments of 20 adult listeners were used to evaluate KWS and Spoken-Only narratives. KWS narratives were produced with a slower articulation rate, because of increased pause and speech segment duration and increased pause…