Week 9: Uhhhhh

This week, I noticed something interesting at WCC; some of the kids tend to stutter and stumble over their words while speaking. For example, one of the kids, while trying to explain to me how he was going to make his ladybug, had said “uh” before and throughout his explanation. This is something I haven’t observed as much at CEID, the total communication center. While this phenomenon and difference may be explained by various reasons, it can be arguably attributed to total communication and the lack thereof at WCC. Sign language is an extremely flowing language, with all the signs connected to each other and creating a picture in the air. Oftentimes, for children with learning disabilities, sign language is used to bring about communication. I believe the same concept can be applied to stuttering. Signing and speaking simultaneously could help with stuttering as the children extend the flow of signing to speaking. Even if a word is forgotten, the child may remember the sign and therefore remember the word; this would help keep thoughts and the overall speaking coherent.

In addition to my research into the stuttering, I came across another study this week. Posted in the Center for Early Literacy Learning, the study, by Carl J. Dunst, Diana Meter, and Deborah W. Hamby, delves deeper into the influences of sign and oral language interventions on the speech and oral language production of children with disabilities. Results showed, regardless of type of sign language, that total communication facilitated the children’s production of speech and oral language. The interventions also had positive effects on child speech and oral language production regardless of other variables, including type of child disability and the different conditions of the interventions. Although the study is not specific to children with cochlear implants, it can still be applied as it finds that sign language helps students of all backgrounds and disabilities.