Betholyn Gentry

Deaf Adolescents' Knowledge of AIDS: Grade and Gender Effects

Adolescents attending 5 state schools for the deaf responded to a 35-item questionnaire designed to probe their knowledge of AIDS. The 129 students in grades 9-12 had extremely limited core knowledge of AIDS, with the correct answers to only 8 of the 35 questions known by most students in all 4 grades. A minority of males and females knew the answers to most questions, indicating that AIDS education programs for deaf adolescents are urgently needed.

SPEECH AND LANGUAGE CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN WITH STROKES DUE TO SICKLE CELL DISEASE

The receptive and expressive language skills of 10 children with strokes due to sickle cell disease were significantly poorer than those of their matched controls. The children with strokes had greatest difficulty in following oral directions and formulating sentences.

READING, WRITING, AND VOCABULARY SKILLS OF CHILDREN WITH STROKES DUE TO SICKLE CELL DISEASE

The reading, writing, and vocabulary skills of 8 children with strokes due to sickle cell disease were compared with 8 control children. The former were delayed in reading and writing skills but not in vocabulary development or use.

Speech Delay in Seven Siblings with Unusual Sound Preferences

By the age of 8 years, children who are developing normally show almost adult speech skills. Children with serious phonological disorders, however, may exhibit significant differences in development well beyond the age of 8 years with little or no improvement in speech if therapy is not provided. This is a descriptive study of seven siblings, ranging in age from 6 to 14 years of age who had never attended school or received speech therapy until these ages. All of the children exhibited moderate to severe speech disorder with no evidence of predisposing genetic factors, hearing loss, physical abuse, or prenatal drug exposure. These cases, which would obviously be impossible to duplicate in a controlled study, provide strong support for the efficacy of speech therapy. Children with serious speech delays will not improve appreciably without direct intervention.

Investigating Black ASL: A Systematic Review.

Abstract:The authors reviewed the literature regarding linguistic variations seen in American Sign Language. These variations are influenced by region and culture. Features of spoken languages have also influenced sign languages as they intersected, e.g., Black ASL has been influenced by African American English. A literature review was conducted to investigate the existence of Black ASL and to document empirical studies on this topic. The included articles were (a) published between 1970 and 2012 in scholarly journals, (b) included a hypothesis, (c) described the participants, and (d) described the research design. Seven articles met the inclusion criteria. All seven addressed differences between Black ASL and mainstream ASL. Only a few research articles meeting the review criteria were revealed. This suggests that empirical research regarding linguistic variation in ASL is a field of study in its infancy and that continued exploration of this topic is needed.

A PARENTAL SURVEY OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH SICKLE CELL DISEASE '

16 parents of infants and toddlers (9 girls, 7 boys) with sickle cell disease reported normal speech and language development in their children but perceived slow physical development. Such perceptions may be related to the smaller physical size of children with this disease.