In April 2007, at the annual Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Convention in Louisville, the author had the pleasure of meeting and then dining with Dr. Karen Dilka, executive director of the Council on Education of the Deaf (CED). Dilka also contributed as the on-site liaison and local arrangements chairperson for the Division for…

The author cites research that casts doubt upon the use of total communication as a means of facilitating speech, communication between parent and child, academic achievement, and vocabulary development in hearing-impaired children. He states that the Alexander Graham Bell Association is not antimanual communication, but rather prospeech. (CL)

Two historic pieces of legislation have galvanized deaf people in ways that have not concerned the hearing community. The first is the American Disabilities Act, which extended legal protection to deaf people. The other, less well-known, is the "Deaf Prez Now" (DPN) or the Gallaudet University protest, which occurred in 1988 when the…

Curricular plans for deaf students include the study of English but not of American Sign Language (ASL). This omission suggests a lack of recognition of ASL as a language and as the communication system of deaf people. Every program for the deaf students should include ASL in its requirements. (Author/CL)

The problems and satisfactions of teaching deaf children are discussed in this interview with a teacher of the deaf. Uses of Ameslon and signed English, talking, and valuable teaching approaches are offered. (JD)

A mother of a hearing-impaired two year old offers examples of utilizing siblings (who have learned sign language) to foster the language development and socialization of the younger child. (DB)

The article focuses on the various dimensions of the auditory-oral track which features the auditory-oral method of instruction for hearing impaired children. The author stresses the Alexander Graham Bell Association's commitment to auditory-oral options for deaf children and youth. (SB)

The article reviews augmentative and alternative communication symbol classifications reported in the literature over the past decade. The "aided/unaided" dichotomy (based on user production of the symbol) is proposed as the superordinate level of classification, rather than the "static/dynamic" (based on transmission of…

Discusses the implications of deafness for cognition and describes communicative systems (the oral method and sign language) for the deaf. Holds that parents of deaf children should teach them both signing and speaking. (GC)

This article presents initial guidelines for combining current conventions for analyzing sign language and spoken language, to represent signs accompanied by speech. Rules are outlined for transcribing utterance groupings in terms of their context, inflection, sign gloss, spoken component, and phonetic transcription. (JDD)

The paper describes the potential of cued speech to provide verbal language and intelligible speech to severely hearing impaired students. The approach, which combines auditory-visual-oral and manual cues, is designed as a visual supplement to normal speech. The paper traces the development of cued speech and discusses modifications made to the R.…

American Sign Language (ASL) is the natural language of deaf individuals. ASL should be an integral part of every Total Communication program for the deaf. Through ASL, the deaf child can develop into a self-sufficient and proud individual. ASL also contributes to the preservation of the deaf community, its heritage, and its culture. (Author).

Summarizes a discussion on cochlear implants from a National Institutes of Health conference. Reviews the cited benefits of the implants in children. Gives comments on research on the language performance of children who are deaf or hearing impaired in oral programs versus those in total communication programs, as well as dissenting opinions on…

This paper considers theory and research on identity development in deaf children and concludes that the exclusively oral method of instruction is not conducive to healthy identity development. The importance of interpersonal communication in identity development from the viewpoints of both sociological and psychoanalytical theories of identity is…

This article introduces a reprint of an 1835 article by Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard entitled, "Existing State of the Art of Instructing the Deaf and Dumb". It reviews Barnard's background and achievements (including 25 years as the president of Columbia College), his familial progressive deafness, and his advanced views on communication…