Sign Language News and Research

RSS

Scientists explore why some kids respond better to cochlear implants than others

Four-year-old William Wootton was born profoundly deaf, but thanks to cochlear implants fitted when he was about 18 months old, the Granite Bay preschooler plays with a keyboard synthesizer and reacts to the sounds of airplanes and trains, while still learning American Sign Language.

1 Jul 2016

NIH-funded study aims to improve health of deaf and hard-of-hearing population

Improving the health of the deaf and hard-of-hearing population through accessible patient-reported outcome measures is the goal of a $1.6 million National Institutes of Health-funded study, led by Rochester Institute of Technology.

29 Mar 2016

MedStar Washington Hospital Center sets up new videophone booth for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing patients

MedStar Washington Hospital Center has installed an innovative videophone booth for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing to communicate with others in real-time. The Sorenson Video Relay Service (SVRS) videophone allows those who use American Sign Language (ASL) to place phone calls through a sign language interpreter.

27 Oct 2015

Study demonstrate similarities in language acquisition between signed and spoken languages

A spoken language is more than just words and sounds. Speakers use changes in pitch and rhythm, known as prosody, to provide emphasis, show emotion, and otherwise add meaning to what they say.

29 Sep 2015

Left brain hemisphere not dominant in the processing of all languages

Researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have debunked the theory that the left brain hemisphere is dominant in the processing of all languages. To date, it has been assumed that that dominance is not determined by the physical structure of a given language. However, the biopsychologists have demonstrated that both hemispheres are equally involved in the perception of whistled Turkish.

18 Aug 2015

Twenty Radboud researchers receive Veni grant as part of Innovational Research Incentives Scheme

Twenty young and promising researchers from Nijmegen - eleven from Radboud University and nine from Radboudumc - are each to receive up to 250,000. NWO (The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research) is awarding the Veni grant as part of the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme.

25 Jul 2015

New study sheds light on linguistic characteristic of autistic children

A new study by a linguistics professor and an alumnus from The University of Texas at Austin sheds light on a well-known linguistic characteristic of autistic children — their reluctance to use pronouns — paving the way for more accurate diagnostics.

6 Apr 2015

Harris Health System uses sign language video technology to communicate with hearing-impaired patients

Harris Health System is now using sign language video technology to better communicate with its hearing-impaired and hard-of-hearing patients.

24 Mar 2015

ASL Services selected as finalist in Bright House Networks Regional Business Awards

ASL Services Inc., announced today that it has been named a finalist in the first annual Bright House Networks Regional Business Awards in Central Florida. ASL Services Inc. was named a finalist in the large business category for the awards, which honor the companies, organizations and people who have impacted, with their products, services, and thought leadership, the Central Florida community.

28 Feb 2015

Deaf people have high levels of risk factors for common conditions

Deaf people who sign have poorer health than the general population, according to a study led by researchers from the School for Social and Community Medicine at the University of Bristol, UK.

7 Feb 2015

InDemand Interpreting awarded group purchasing contract with Premier

InDemand Interpreting, a leading provider of Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) within healthcare, has been awarded a group purchasing contract with Premier, Inc. to offer experienced medical interpreters and the highest quality video technology to Premier members.

5 Feb 2015

DSN supports research into possible links between deafness and dementia

A Cheshire charity is set to generate national impact by backing research into possible links between deafness and dementia.

30 Oct 2014

Canada funds 22 inventive ideas for improving health in low-resource countries

Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, today announced $2.4 million in seed funds shared between 22 projects from Canada and nine developing nations, to pursue inventive new ideas for improving health in low-resource countries.

8 Sep 2014

Avatars may help deaf people communicate on online platforms

It is challenging for deaf people to learn a sound-based language, since they are physically not able to hear those sounds. Hence, most of them struggle with written language as well as with text reading and comprehension.

28 Aug 2014

New model provides insight into neurofunctional mechanisms of autism

An analysis of autism research covering genetics, brain imaging, and cognition led by Laurent Mottron of the University of Montreal has overhauled our understanding of why autism potentially occurs, develops and results in a diversity of symptoms.

13 Aug 2014

New developmental music therapy class helps babies to reach their full potential

Lisa Gracey shares a puppet of an orange bear with 11-month-old son Duke, singing 'Old MacDonald had a farm,' encouraging him to be engaged in his music therapy class. He grabs at the soft material and bounces in excitement.

29 Jul 2014

'Signglasses' system may help deaf literacy

Ordinarily, deaf students are left in the dark when they visit a planetarium. With the lights off, they can't see the ASL interpreter who narrates their tour of outer space. With the lights on, they can't see the constellations of stars projected overhead.

28 May 2014

European team experts to explore role of neighborhood in everyday lives of people with dementia

A European team of experts led by The University of Manchester will explore, investigate and evaluate the role of the neighbourhood in the everyday lives of people with dementia and their families in a new research project announced during the G8 dementia summit today (11 December).

17 Dec 2013

Study examines how mobile technology might support deaf, hard-of-hearing college students

A small, pilot study is examining how mobile technology might support deaf and hard-of-hearing college students when an interpreter can't physically be present at the time the services are requested.

18 Jun 2013

Haptics improve outcomes in people with visual prosthetics

Normal vision is essentially a spatial sense that often relies upon touch and movement during and after development, there is often a correlation between how an object looks and how it feels. Moreover, as a child's senses develop, there is cross-referencing between the various senses. Indeed, where the links between the senses are not made, there may be developmental problems or delays. This should be taken into consideration when training new users of visual prosthetics, artificial retinas, or bionic eyes, suggest researchers in Australia.

2 May 2013