The sign "institute" is the source of a family of ASL signs that are used to refer to residential schools for deaf children and to other institutions. The members of the "institute" sign family--although initialized--are well-established within the Deaf community and, importantly, are used to refer to highly-valued aspects of Deaf culture. This is…

British Sign Language has a number of regional variations. This article examines the role of residential schools in the development of sign variants. Citing data collected during interviews with members of the Lancaster and Morecambe Deaf community (who of necessity attended schools elsewhere), it explores the peer-to-peer transmission of sign…

This article discusses a survey study that drew on seventy-five high school students at a residential deaf school in Japan. The aim of the survey was to examine the various ways in which deaf adolescents use text messaging and to determine whether they use the technology differently from the hearing high school students surveyed in our previously…

This article draws on contemporary insights from the fields of psychology, sociology, and social welfare to analyze the potential threats of abuse posed by residential schools for deaf and blind children. It also examines an alleged episode of sexual abuse at the nineteenth century Spanish National School for deaf and blind children; the alleged…

Reconstructs the history of the first school for the deaf, founded in 1874 in Rome, from writings by the founder and his successors and memories of deaf people who attended the school at different periods. Contrasts between the official written history and collective memories of older generations of deaf people are highlighted. (Author/CB)

Tells the story of a 16-year-old boy who attended and was expelled from the Spanish National School for Deaf Mutes and the Blind during the 1870s. (Author/VWL)

Details the story of Patricio Garcia, a Deaf student at the Spanish National School for Deaf-Mutes and the Blind, who blew the whistle on physical abuse used at the school, specifically in the case of a former student. The former student ran away from the school in 1876 after beatings and other cruel treatment, was returned, and then expelled in…

Investigation of profoundly deaf adolescent students' ability to read signs in peripheral vision revealed a mean success rate of about 80 percent. Results support the supposition that peripheral vision may be linguistically and communicatively useful for deaf people, particularly as signs in isolation are more difficult to read than signs in…

Study indicates that hearing impaired residential students are more proficient users of American Sign Language than are hearing impaired children enrolled in local, public school programs, and older such residential students are more proficient in the language than are younger students. (SL)

Suggests how insights from Paul Bohannon's book, "How Culture Works" (1995), could be used to address such questions as, "How do deaf people learn their culture?" and "How do deaf children learn (what) culture?" Bohannon's idea of cultural dynamics is applied to deaf culture to trace how that culture evolved, how it…