Talker and lexical effects on audiovisual word recognition by adults with cochlear implants.
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The present study examined how postlingually deafened adults with cochlear implants combine visual information from lipreading with auditory cues in an open-set word recognition task. Adults with normal hearing served as a comparison group. Word recognition performance was assessed using lexically controlled word lists presented under auditory-only, visual-only, and combined audiovisual presentation formats. Effects of talker variability were studied by manipulating the number of talkers producing the stimulus tokens. Lexical competition was investigated using sets of lexically easy and lexically hard test words. To assess the degree of audiovisual integration, a measure of visual enhancement, R(a), was used to assess the gain in performance provided in the audiovisual presentation format relative to the maximum possible performance obtainable in the auditory-only format. Results showed that word recognition performance was highest for audiovisual presentation followed by auditory-only and then visual-only stimulus presentation. Performance was better for single-talker lists than for multiple-talker lists, particularly under the audiovisual presentation format. Word recognition performance was better for the lexically easy than for the lexically hard words regardless of presentation format. Visual enhancement scores were higher for single-talker conditions compared to multiple-talker conditions and tended to be somewhat better for lexically easy words than for lexically hard words. The pattern of results suggests that information from the auditory and visual modalities is used to access common, multimodal lexical representations in memory. The findings are discussed in terms of the complementary nature of auditory and visual sources of information that specify the same underlying gestures and articulatory events in speech. (+info)
The views and attitudes of parents of children with a sensory impairment towards orthodontic care.
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A questionnaire was sent to the parents of 77 visually impaired (VI), 210 hearing impaired (HI) and 494 control children seeking their views on their child's dental appearance, orthodontic treatment need and issues that might influence the child undertaking treatment. The parents' views were compared with a dentist's assessment of treatment need using the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). There was disagreement between the dentist's assessment and the parents' perceptions in all groups. However, the least disagreement was seen in the HI group. There was a statistically significant (P < 0.05) association between control and HI parents' views of their children's treatment needs and their opinion on their dental appearance. Most parents thought that orthodontic treatment was difficult to obtain and expensive and that their child would find difficulty coping with the treatment. Furthermore, parents of VI children considered that treatment was unlikely to be undertaken due to their child's reduced concern for their appearance. The study indicates that the awareness of treatment need for VI and HI children differs between their parents and dentists. (+info)
Nonword imitation by children with cochlear implants: consonant analyses.
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OBJECTIVES: To complete detailed linguistic analyses of archived recordings of pediatric cochlear implant users' imitations of nonwords; to gain insight into the children's developing phonological systems and the wide range of variability in nonword responses. DESIGN: Nonword repetition: repetition of 20 auditory-only English-sounding nonwords. SETTING: Central Institute for the Deaf "Education of the Deaf Child" research program, St Louis, Mo. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-eight 8- to 10-year-old experienced pediatric cochlear implant users. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Several different consonant accuracy scores based on the linguistic structure (voicing, place, and manner of articulation) of the consonants being imitated; analysis of the errors produced for all consonants imitated incorrectly. RESULTS: Seventy-six children provided a response to at least 75% of the nonword stimuli. In these children's responses, 33% of the target consonants were imitated correctly, 25% of the target consonants were deleted, and substitutions were provided for 42% of the target consonants. The children tended to correctly reproduce target consonants with coronal place (which involve a mid-vocal tract constriction) more often than other consonants. Poorer performers tended to produce more deletions than the better performers, but their production errors tended to follow the same patterns as the better performers. CONCLUSIONS: Poorer performance on labial consonants suggests that scores were affected by the lack of visual cues such as lip closure. Oral communication users tended to perform better than total communication users, indicating that oral communication methods are beneficial to the development of pediatric cochlear implant users' phonological processing skills. (+info)
Linguistic diversity in a deaf prison population: implications for due process.
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The entire deaf prison population in the state of Texas formed the basis for this research. The linguistic skills of prison inmates were assessed using the following measures: (1) Kannapell's categories of bilingualism, (2) adaptation of the diagnostic criteria for Primitive Personality Disorder, (3) reading scores on the Test of Adult Basic Education, and (4) an evaluation of sign language use and skills by a certified sign language interpreter who had worked with deaf inmates for the past 17 years. Deaf inmates with reading scores below the federal standard for literacy (grade level 2.9) were the group most likely to demonstrate linguistic incompetence to stand trial, meaning that they probably lacked the ability to understand the charges against them and/or were unable to participate in their own defenses. Based on the language abilities and reading scores of this population, up to 50% of deaf state prison inmates may not have received due process throughout their arrest and adjudication. Despite their adjudicative and/or linguistic incompetence, these individuals were convicted in many cases, possibly violating their constitutional rights and their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. (+info)
Education of deaf students in Spain: legal and educational politics developments.
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This article examines the legal instruments and educational politics affecting deaf persons' educational rights in Spain. We present a historical view of deaf education in Spain before and after the Congress of Milan (1880) and then introduce educational legislation and practices in recent decades. At present, Spanish legislation is moving toward recognition of sign languages and the suitability of bilingual education for deaf students at all educational levels. This is a consequence of taking into account the low academic achievement of two generations of deaf students educated in a monolingual model. Bilingual projects are now run throughout Spain. We emphasize that efforts must be made in the legal sphere to regulate the way in which professionals who know sign language and Deaf culture-teachers, interpreters, deaf adult models-are incorporated in bilingual deaf schools. (+info)
When parents are deaf versus hard of hearing: patterns of sign use and school placement of deaf and hard-of-hearing children.
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This paper investigates the importance of knowing whether or not deaf and hard-of-hearing students have one or more deaf or hard-of-hearing parents. As noted by Mitchell and Karchmer (2004), deaf and hard-of-hearing school-age children and youth in the United States with at least one parent identified as "hearing impaired" are nearly evenly split between having at least one deaf parent and having at least one hard-of-hearing parent. However, there is no literature on the importance, if any, of this distinction. Findings from the investigation reported herein suggest that the distinction between having a deaf versus a hard-of-hearing parent is quite substantial, particularly as it pertains to the use of signing in the home. Further, signing in the home, which is reliably predicted by parental hearing status, is a significant predictor of the school setting in which the student is currently placed and the instructional use of signing in the classroom. Limitations related to the available measure of parental hearing status are discussed. (+info)
Attachment in deaf mothers and their children.
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In attachment research, there has been a growing interest in how adults conceptualize their relationships with their own parents as well as in the transmission of attachment status from parent to child and the variables that influence that transmission. The primary goal of the present study was to examine the transmission of attachment from deaf mother to child. Adult Attachment Interviews were collected on 32 deaf women and Strange Situation Procedure data were obtained from their children. While the distribution of deaf mother attachment classifications was similar to that found with hearing samples, the concordance between mother and child in terms of attachment status was lower than in hearing samples. Having a deaf parent did not affect a deaf adult's attachment status. Post hoc analyses suggested a trend towards a dismissing stance in attachment relationships. Results are discussed in terms of variables affecting attachment status as well as the transmission of attachment. (+info)
Tutoring deaf students in higher education: a comparison of baccalaureate and sub-baccalaureate student perceptions.
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Seventy-three deaf college students completed a survey examining perceptions about tutoring outcomes and emphases, characteristics of tutors, and responsibilities associated with learning through tutoring. The comparisons revealed that while baccalaureate and sub-baccalaureate students have many similar perceptions about tutoring, there are also some striking differences. In particular, as compared to the sub-baccalaureate students, baccalaureate students have a stronger preference for focusing on course content and for working with tutors who actively involve them during the tutoring sessions. In addition, baccalaureate students prefer to decide the focus of the tutoring themselves while sub-baccalaureate students tend to leave the decision to the tutor. The results of the analyses with three scales measuring perceptions of tutoring dimensions are summarized and recommendations for the selection and preparation of tutors, as well as for future research, are provided. (+info)