The study investigated the "hundred languages of Deaf children" (Malaguzzi, 1993) in two schools using the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education, which originated in Italy. One principle of this approach, "the hundred languages of children," supports young children in expressing their ideas and thoughts in…

The Total Communication Rating Scale is a 5-point, 10-item evaluation instrument designed to assess the total communication skills of students in training as they interact with deaf persons. The necessity for, a description of, and recommended uses for the rating scale are discussed. (Author/CL)

A parent tells her story about her 17-year encounter with deafness and with the professionals in deafness. (Author)

Two studies investigated the effects of administration modifications on subtest scaled scores of the Wechsler-Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). Performance scale rated different groups of 57 severely/profoundly hearing-impaired children. Total communication was found to result in higher scores on all subtests in the genetic and…

The paper offers a model for providing comprehensive speech services within a total communication program for deaf students so that this type of educational approach will be more than manual education with adjunct speech services. Contributions of each member of an interdisciplinary, comprehensive, speech team are described. (Author)

The case of a deaf preschool child whose parents and teacher cooperated in a Total Communication and Signed English approach is cited. A record of the child's utterances is presented to illustrate growth in language to a level near that of a hearing child. (CL)

A 10-year evaluation of effects of introducing total communication into a previously oral/aural school focused on student achievement levels and communication skills. Staff perceptions and test results have indicated important changes in both aspects, some of which may be attributable to direct intervention, legislative aspects, and greater…

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)

It is argued that Oralism and Total Communication underestimate the profound nature of deafness and the potential value of fundamental research. The evolution of these philosophies is described, and changes in philosophy are discussed. (Author)

A variation on microteaching, the use of videotaped feedback during training, is suggested as an efficient and effective way for improving teachers' communication ability with hearing impaired students. Manually encoding English within a system of simultaneous communication has improved the climate for communication in classrooms for…

Two elementary hearing impaired students showed their ability to demonstrate which of several languages and/or systems was the most beneficial to them as an instructional communication tool. Findings had implications for teachers wishing to match language of instruction to the child's language preferences. (Author/CL)

Materials written by T. H. Gallaudet on the subject of sign language and communication are reviewed that indicate that some of his ideas regarding the use of sign language in teaching deaf students may have been partially misunderstood. (Author/SW)

The word identification directives developed by the Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction (ECRI) were modified for use in a Total Communication integrated classroom with seven hearing impaired third graders. Pilot tests showed that the hearing impaired students substantially increased their reading and spelling vocabularies. (Author)

A six-year longitudinal evaluation was made of the effectiveness of the various early intervention strategies being emphasized in seven preschool programs for hearing-impaired children. (Author/DLS)

The mother of a young deaf child describes her son's progress in communicating through sign and verbal language. (CL)