Background: Speech perception is often considered specific to the auditory modality, despite convincing evidence that speech processing is bimodal. The theoretical and clinical roles of speech-reading for speech perception, however, have received little attention in speech-language therapy. Aims: The role of speech-read information for speech…

The "Visual Phonics" system, which uses 43 hand cues and corresponding written symbols to help deaf students improve their speech and reading skills, was evaluated with six deaf upper elementary grade students in a speech therapy program. Pre- and posttesting indicated substantially improved articulation both with and without hand cues.…

Efficacy of individualized training using a distinctive feature model of therapy was evaluated with 75 hearing-impaired postsecondary students. Significant improvements in vowel, word and sentence production, and word and sentence perception were observed. (Author/DB)