Communication Modes Used with Hearing-Impaired Students: Investigations and Applications to a School/Home Program

The use to and by hearing-impaired students of speech, signs, fingerspelling, writing, gestures, American Sign Language (ASL), and pictures was investigated in preparation for a school/home education project at a state school. Significant use differences were found (a) within each study group between contiguous modes in the seven-mode hierarchy, (b) between modes used to, versus by, the students, and (c) among the three study groups. Findings of a recent nationwide study were combined with local data to make recommendations for an educational program concentrating on modes usage flexibility and cognitive/linguistic strategies.