Transcript SIGNING FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

SIGNING FOR CHILDREN
WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Nicola Grove
Department of Language & Communication
Science
City University
Manual Sign System Conference
Commission for Persons with Disability
23rd September 2006
Valletta, Malta
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SIGN LANGUAGES &
SYSTEMS
SIGN LANGUAGES
 Natural
 Structure
independent of
spoken language
 Primary means of
communication
 Maltese SL; ASL,
FSL; BSL

SIGN SYSTEMS
 Devised
 Structure based on
spoken language
 Used as a means of
education
 Makaton,
Signalong, Signed
English, Paget
Gorman

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HISTORY OF SIGN SYSTEMS
Use with children and adults with
intellectual disability began in early 1970's
 Started with people who were deaf, then
used with hearing people who had
difficulties with speech perception and
production
 Groups
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Intellectual disability; specific language
impairment; ASD; cerebral palsy; dysarthria
and dyspraxia; some adults after acquired
brain injury
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USER GROUPS
Children who can speak, but need sign to
help their speech perception and
understanding
 Children who need signs as a transitional
stage in developing spoken language
 Children who use sign as a “back up”to their
use of speech
 Children who are dependent on sign and
gesture as their main means of
communication

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Worries and concerns
Signing may stop speech development
 Signing means professionals are giving up
on speech
 Signing makes children stand out as
different and inferior
 Learning to sign is an additional pressure
on families

Powell ( in press)
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DON'T BE WORRIED!
SIGNING CAN HELP IF...
Children have problems articulating or
producing speech sounds
Children have problems processing and
understanding speech
Children have problems understanding
information
SO – WHAT'S THE EVIDENCE?
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SIGNS ARE EASIER THAN
SPEECH…….
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What are the reasons?
RATIONALE
Advantages of sign over speech
Signs are produced in time and space
 More redundancy than speech
 Taking longer to produce
 Can be held static as model
 More iconic (pictorial) representations
 Require less control over fine motor
production
 Easier to perceive and discriminate

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Reasons to do with the nature of
language delay and impairments
Language delays are usually
associated with problems in
processing and recalling the
phonological patterns of speech; and
with articulating finely co-ordinated
oral movement Tallal, 2000
 Children with SENs often have
hearing difficulties
 Children with SENs often have
relative strengths in the visual-motor
system (eg Down syndrome)
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GESTURE AND SPEECH
Try this in pairs
 Think of a place you really like to go
 Sit on your hands
 Now give directions to your partner about
how to get there
 And describe what it’s like

SIGN, GESTURE & SPEECH
Close relationship between 2 means of
expression
 Gesture and speech are intertwined as
thoughts are realised in communication
 Use of sign and gesture takes pressure off
speech initiation
 Use of sign and gesture appears to facilitate
articulation of speech
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CORTICAL REPRESENTATION
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Signs help speech
Gesture and signing help the
development of speech Capone and
McGregor, 2004; Goldin-Meadow
and Morford 1990
 Gestures and words complement
each other Nicoladis, Mayberry and
Genesee 1999.
 Late talkers naturally use gesture as
a compensatory strategy Thal &
Tobias, 1994 ; Iverson et. al, 1993
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Signs help speech contd…

Signing helps to make speech more
intelligible
• Listeners understood the speech of
adults with LD better when signs
were used – even when they could
not see the signs.This is perhaps
because their speech rate slowed
down and became more rhythmical
Powell & Clibbens, 1994
Signs help speech contd….

Most children with DS who are
introduced to signing early on, progress
to spoken language by the age of 5
Miller, 1992; Launonen, 1996

Once a child becomes able to use
speech, sign becomes used as a “back
up system” Launonen & Grove, 2002
Signing does NOT stop speech
Launonen & Grove 2002
The case of Eppu
 Down Syndrome
 Mute at 4 years
 At 12 started to speak
 By 16 only used sign as back up gesturecompetent speaker
 ??vocal cord apraxia, hormonal changes
at puberty made adduction easier

Signs help language
development
Better interaction between parents and
children
 Less passivity in children
 Larger vocabularies
 Improvements in cognition
 Improvements in language development
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Results from longitudinal
studies
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Larger vocabularies in sign and speech
• total 111 in research group; 14 in control at 3y
(Launonen)
Advances in cognition, language and literacy
• Intervention group significantly ahead of
controls in language comprehension,
interaction, reading and writing at 8 years.
• Gains in syntax Buckley, Bird, and Byrne, 1996
Allowed those children who did not develop speech
to have a functional means of communication
• 1/12 in research group no formal
communication; 5/12 in control group
Launonnen, 1996; 2002; Miller, 1992
Best practice in using signs

Start early
• Neural plasticity – get the brain laying down
pathways when it is most receptive
• Ensure development of good reciprocal
interactions
• Help children to be active communicators
• Forestall problems with hearing and
capitalise on the child's strengths

Use signs yourself
• Essential for the child to develop language
naturally
• To provide good models
• To reduce isolation – why should she sign if
you don't!
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GUIDELINES FOR TEACHING
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Take the lead from parents of deaf children – use signs
where children can see them
Use the sign language of your own country!
Follow principles of normal language development
Choose signs that are functional and motivating, not
by ease of production or “iconicity level”
Use signs yourself in spontaneous contexts
Develop large vocabularies, including verbs,
adjectives, question words as well as nouns
• 50 words -> word combinations 400 words ->
grammar
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JOINT ATTENTION &
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Children learn words when they are
attending to the object their parent is
naming
 Children learn words to fill gaps in their use
 Pointing plays a significant role in language
development
 Research has shown that a child who is just
beginning to talk must hear a word about
500 times before it will become part of his
active vocabulary.
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THE ATTENTION PROBLEM
Work with a partner
 Take some objects out of your handbag
and put them in front of you
 Pick up and handle one of the objects
 Your partner must tell you what it is
 Now do this without talking, and try to
teach the sign for the object
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THE ATTENTION PROBLEM

Speech input to hearing child
LOOK AT THE BOX
THE ATTENTION PROBLEM

Sign input to child with hearing/speech
perception difficulties
TEACHING STRATEGIES
THAT MAINTAIN ATTENTION
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DO
Sign where the object
is, in child’s visual
focus
Sign on child’s body
Wait for child to look
at you, hold object
and sign
DON’T
 Sign when child can’t
see you
 Tap the child or move
face to gain attention,
then sign (because they
lose the focus on the
object)
 Mould children’s hands
(can be done
occasionally)
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PROGRESS IN SIGN AND
SPEECH
Vocalisations and gestures
 Single words and single signs
 Points plus: p + voc, p+p, p+sign, p+word
 Sign + sign, sign + word, word + word
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The fight back!
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Signing will stop my child speaking –
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Signing means that professionals
have given up on my child speaking –
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NO IT WON'T
NO: SIGNING AND SPEECH GO
TOGETHER
Signing will make my child inferior–
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WHO SAYS???
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TOTAL COMMUNICATION

The use of all forms of communication that
are useful to a child in all potential contexts
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Sign and speech are both face to face – best for faster,
interpersonal direct interaction. Problems are memory and
intelligibility
• Sign and gesture – particularly good for dynamic actions
(verbs)
• Vocalisation & speech – good for calling attention, emotional
expression,
• Facial expression & body language – attitudes & emotion
Picture boards – involve 3 way interaction,slower, but
• useful for names, specific places and people, narrative recall –
compensates for memory difficulties
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The communication environment
Children will sign more when those around
them sign (Grove & Mcdougall, 1990;
Mellon unpublished).
 Visual schedules and timetables, objects of
reference help children to know what they
are supposed to do, and predict and recall
 Visual and tactile cues in the environment
help children with SEN to develop
independence and find their way around
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VALUING PEOPLE
The communication gap
'Valuing People' says that people with learning
disabilities should have: Independence, Choice,
Rights and Inclusion.
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Many people with learning disabilities have
difficulties with language and communication
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It is hard to be independent, to make
choices, know your rights and feel you belong
when you cannot communicate easily. *
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Many people with learning disabilities can
learn to communicate in other ways. They can
use objects, pictures, symbols and signing.
 These means of communication must be valued
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Jones, 2001
Diversity of communication – a
Human Rights Issue
Communication
is a fundamental social process
and the foundation of all social organization. It is
more than the mere transmission of messages.
Communication is human interaction among
individuals and groups through which identities and
meanings are shaped. Communication rights are
based on a vision of the free flow of information and
ideas which is interactive, egalitarian and nondiscriminatory and driven by human needs, rather
than commercial or political interests. These rights
represent people’s claim to freedom, inclusiveness,
diversity and participation in the communication
process.
www.communicationrights.org/statement_en.htm
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l
…continued
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Communication diversity is crucial to
democracy and political participation, to the
right of all people to promote, protect and
preserve their cultural identity and the free
pursuit of their cultural development.
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World forum on communication rights, December 11
2003 Geneva
UN CONVENTION
Protection and Promotion of the Rights and
Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
ARTICLE 21 - FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND OPINION, AND
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
States and parties shall take all appropriate
measures to ensure that persons with disabilities
can exercise their right to freedom of expression
and opinion, including the freedom to seek,
receive and impart information and ideas on an
equal basis with others and through sign
languages, Braille, augmentative and alternative
communication, and all other accessible means,
modes and formats of communication of their
choice, including by:
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Article 21 continued
(a) Providing information intended for the general
public to persons with disabilities in accessible
formats and technologies appropriate to different
kinds of disabilities in a timely manner and
without additional cost
(b) Accepting and facilitating the use of sign
languages, Braille, augmentative and alternative
communication, and all other accessible means,
modes and formats of communication of their
choice by persons with disabilities in official
interactions;
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Article 21 continued
Urging private entities that provide services to the
general public, including through the Internet, to
provide information and services in accessible
and usable formats for persons with disabilities
(d) Encouraging the mass media, including
providers of information through the Internet, to
make their services accessible to persons with
disabilities
(e) Recognizing and promoting the use of sign
language
August 2006
IN CONCLUSION
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Access to Sign and other methods of AAC is a
fundamental human right, as these are
essential means of communication
Signing and gesture enhance speech, and will
not prevent speech and vocalisation
We need to learn from the expertise of the Deaf
community
Be proud of this beautiful language - and make
your children proud to be signers and users of
AAC!