Using the S-DMM to describe dialogue with persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities appears to be promising. The value of the S-DMM and its consensus-rating procedure are reflected upon and discussed with regard to implications for research and practice.

Low readability is a main concern regarding communication with persons with congenital deafblindness (Nafstad & Rødbroe, 2015). This is because most of the expressions come from the bodily-tactile modality and are often based on tactile iconicity. It is difficult for a seeing and hearing partner to understand these expressions from the perspective of cultural language. The goal of this qualitative study is to show the emergence of sign constructions based on heightened tactile perception (Borchgrevink, 2002; Nicholas, 2004). Two videos, each showing one of two participants with congenital deafblindness, were subjected to qualitative micro-analysis. A key focus of this research concerns the combination of exploration and cognitive processing indicated by self-addressed expressions, and how this combination contributes to sign constructions. The linguistic quality of these sign constructions is further examined by detailing handshape, movement and location according to the work by Stokoe, 1960 and Bellugi & Klima, 2001. The results provide support for the proposition of a new sign category based on heightened tactile perception.  https://doi.org/10.21827/jdbsc.4.31373

Interaction between parents and children with congenital deafblindness (CDB) is easily hampered due to dual sensory loss. This case report examines imitation and emotional availability in interaction between a mother and her 3-year-old child with CDB first in unguided play and then in three play sessions with tactile imitation guidance. The video recorded play sessions were analyzed for frequency, length, and modality of imitation. Emotional Availability Scales were used to code the emotional quality of interaction. The results showed that before the guidance the mother imitated the child mainly vocally. After the guidance, the use of tactility in imitations increased. Imitation exchanges lasted longest in the last session. The emotional availability between the mother and the child was higher after the guidance. Further research is needed to confirm the positive outcomes of this case study.

This article uses microanalysis of a video case example of embodied cognition and language appropriation in a child with congenital deafblindness and multiple disability. The creative and generative nature of the child’s expressions are highlighted in this analysis in an exploration of the dialogical concept of recycling (Linell, 2010), in particular recycling with difference (Anward, 2004; 2014).  The central notion of simulation in cognition is challenged here by highlighting the status of the child’s expressions as re-workings rather than representations or copies of the original interaction. The account of the micro-analysis of alignment in the case is linked to the cognitive-linguistic perspective of dialogic syntax with its key notions of parallelism, resonance and engagement.  https://doi.org/10.21827/jdbsc.5.32572

Un dialogue réussi est une réalisation artistique. Surtout quand ce dialogue a lieu entre une personne sourde-aveugle congénitale et son partenaire de communication. A savoir, un enfant qui « a » un problème de communication dans le sens où il ne possède pas un système efficace de communication, et un adulte qui dépend non seulement de sa réactivité et sensibilité spontanée, mais aussi de sa connaissance de l'enfant sourd-aveugle et des contextes d'interaction qui permettent le développement des prérequis socio-interactifs et communicatifs de celui-ci. Le maintien du dialogue est souvent empêché par le décalage qui existe entre les expressions non apprises de l'enfant et celles que nous nous attendons à percevoir sur la base de notre culture linguistique (Nafstad, 1996). C'est pourquoi, une connaissance approfondie des formes et fonctions des actes communicatifs chez les enfants sourds-aveugles de naissance peut aider les adultes à communiquer de façon adaptée leur disponibilité pour cocréer un dialogue.