Manual Signing in Adults With Intellectual Disability: Influence of Sign Characteristics on Functional Sign Vocabulary

Meuris, Kristien; Maes, Beatrijs; Meyer, Anne-Marie De; Zink, Inge

doi:10.1044/2014_jslhr-l-12-0402

Cited by 13 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Key word signing is a form of augmentative and alternative communication, which involves manually signing the keywords of a sentence alongside the given spoken language (Beukelman & Mirenda, 2005;Grove & Dockrell, 2000). It is considered that this type of signing is learned relatively easily and has been found to support and develop the communication skills of individuals with intellectual disabilities (Meuris et al, 2014). According to Powell (1999), KWS may be particularly advantageous for children with Down syndrome, as it taps into their relative strengths in visual processing and imitation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating peer attitudes towards the use of key word signing by children with Down syndrome in mainstream schools

Bowles

Frizelle

2016

Brit J Learn Disabil

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Background: Lámh is a key word signing approach used in Ireland, which can support the communication needs of children with Down syndrome. However, the success of this approach in mainstream schools relies heavily on the attitudes of those within the school environment. To date, two studies have explored the attitudes of teaching staff towards the use of keyword signing in schools; however, no previous research has investigated peer attitudes towards this method of communication. This study aimed to explore the attitudes of peers towards the use of Lámh by children with Down syndrome in mainstream schools. Materials and Methods: The study was qualitative, using interpretative phenomenological analysis procedures to analyse eight interviews with children, ranging in age from 6 to 8 years. Results and Conclusion: Overall, mainstream school peers demonstrated an understanding and an appreciation of the use of key word signing. However, the success of this approach within the school was limited by a number of challenges evinced by the school peers, including making the signs accurately and remembering their meanings. Given the important interactive role of the peers of a child with Down syndrome in a mainstream school setting, these challenges need to be addressed to optimise the use of key word signing and increase the likelihood of successful communication between children with Down syndrome and their peers

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating peer attitudes towards the use of key word signing by children with Down syndrome in mainstream schools

Bowles

Frizelle

2016

Brit J Learn Disabil

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“… *Determination of (non‐)dominant KWS domains was based on the study by Meuris et al . (): the two most often used domains were regarded as dominant.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Direct support staff sometimes knew fewer manual signs than adults with intellectual disabilities did (Meuris et al, 2014b;Rombouts et al, 2016). During functional communication, adults with intellectual disabilities primarily used manual signs pertaining to food/drink and traffic/vehicles (Meuris et al, 2014a). On the one hand, the adults may prefer these topics (Graves, 2000;Meuris et al, 2014b).…”

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confidence: 99%

Use of key word signing by staff in special schools and in day centres for adults with intellectual disabilities

Rombouts

Maes

Zink

2017

J intellect Disabil Res

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Background Staff may encourage individuals with intellectual disabilities to use manual signs by modelling its use, but implementing key word signing during daily activities can be demanding. Method Staff's use of manual signs was observed in four special schools and four day centres for adults with intellectual disabilities during communicative group activities, non-communicative group activities and mealtimes. Using in situ partial interval coding, we measured staff's communication rate, semantic diversity of manual signs, sign reinforcement and sign imitation. With Chi-squared tests, associations were measured between these variables, the two settings and the three activity types. Results During communicative activities, staff used manual signs significantly more in adult services than special schools. During non-communicative activities and mealtimes, staff seldom used or reinforced signs. Conclusions Staff communicated frequently but did not often model sign use during daily activities. To investigate influence from training background, further detailed measurements are warranted.

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“…A research study found that increased iconicity positively affects functional sign use in individuals with intellectual disabilities who have normal hearing even when the concept's concreteness was taken into account (Meuris, De Meyer, Maes, & Zink, 2014). In that study, the authors assessed iconicity of the Flemish KWS system SMOG which contains signs from FSL but often with altered features as well as newly developed signs (Loncke et al, 2012).…”

Section: Support Of Signs])mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of the signs (69.4%) were translucent. A sign was considered translucent when the strength of the relation between sign and meaning received a score 4 or higher on a 6-point Likert scale (Meuris et al, 2014). Most research concerning translucency has been conducted in the context of ASL (Bellugi & Klima, 1976;Hoemann, 1975;Lieberth & Gamble, 1991).…”

Section: Support Of Signs])mentioning

confidence: 99%

Key Word Signing Has Higher Iconicity Than Sign Language

Rombouts

Maessen

Maes

et al. 2020

J Speech Lang Hear Res

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Purpose Key word signing (KWS) entails using manual signs to support the natural speech of individuals with normal hearing and who have communication difficulties. While manual signs from the local sign language may be used for this purpose, some KWS systems have opted for a distinct KWS lexicon. Distinct KWS lexicon typically aims for higher sign iconicity or recognizability to make the lexicon more accessible for individuals with intellectual disabilities. We sought to determine if, in the Belgian Dutch context, signs from such a distinct KWS lexicon (Spreken Met Ondersteuning van Gebaren [Speaking With Support of Signs; SMOG]) were indeed more iconic than their Flemish Sign Language (FSL) counterparts. Method Participants were 224 adults with typical development who had no signing experience. They rated the resemblance between a FSL sign and its meaning. Raw data on the iconicity of SMOG from a previous study were used. Translucency was statistically and qualitatively compared between the SMOG lexicon and their FSL counterparts. Results SMOG had an overall higher translucency than FSL and contained a higher number of iconic signs. Conclusion This finding may support the value of a separate sign lexicon over using sign language signs. Nevertheless, other aspects, such as wide availability and inclusion, need to be considered.

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Manual Signing in Adults With Intellectual Disability: Influence of Sign Characteristics on Functional Sign Vocabulary

Abstract: The meaning of a sign is the most important factor regarding its functionality (i.e., whether a sign is used in everyday communication). Phonological characteristics seem only of minor importance.

Cited by 13 publications

References 48 publications

Investigating peer attitudes towards the use of key word signing by children with Down syndrome in mainstream schools

Investigating peer attitudes towards the use of key word signing by children with Down syndrome in mainstream schools

Use of key word signing by staff in special schools and in day centres for adults with intellectual disabilities

Key Word Signing Has Higher Iconicity Than Sign Language

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