An evaluation of the relationship between receptive speech and manual sign language with mentally handicapped children

Clarke, Susan Elizabeth (1986) An evaluation of the relationship between receptive speech and manual sign language with mentally handicapped children. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

The two main concerns of this thesis are the role and the development of receptive speech during total communication training. Single subject case designs were used to conduct seven studies with mentally handicapped participants who had little or no expressive speech. In the first four studies as assessment was made of (a) the role of children's receptive speech skills, and (b) the impact of the speech component of total communication, during expressive sign learning. It was found that children's receptive knowledge mediated sign learning: signs corresponding to known words were generally acquired faster than signs corresponding to unknown words. Furthermore, the use of referential speech during sign training facilitated learning when these words were receptively known to the child. In the three subsequent studies the development of receptive speech during total communication was investigated. Because overselectivity during total communication training may preclude the possibility of some children developing their speech skills, remedial procedures were designed to prevent or correct this learning difficulty. Two approaches were found to be effective. The first of these consisted of a receptive speech training phase prior to sign training; the second widened the child's attentional breadth by increasing the relative predictive saliency of ineffective stimuli. The findings are discussed in relation to the stimulus equivalence model. (D73129/87)

This record has no associated files available for download.