The Occupational Health and Safety of Sign Language Interpreters Working Remotely During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a dramatic shift in work conditions, bringing increased attention to the occupational health of remote workers. We aimed to investigate the physical and mental health of sign language interpreters working remotely from home because of the pandemic. METHODS: We measured the physical and mental health of certified interpreters who worked remotely 10 or more hours per week. We evaluated associations within the overall sample and compared separate generalized linear models across primary interpreting settings and platforms. We hypothesized that physical health would be correlated with mental health and that differences across settings would exist. RESULTS: We recruited 120 interpreters to participate. We calculated scores for disability (mean score, 13.93 [standard error of the mean (SEM), 1.43] of 100), work disability (mean score, 10.86 [SEM, 1.59] of 100), and pain (mean score, 3.53 [SEM, 0.29] of 10). Shoulder pain was most prevalent (27.5%). Respondents had scores that were not within normal limits for depression (22.5%), anxiety (16.7%), and stress (24.2%). Although disability was not associated with depression, all other outcomes for physical health were correlated with mental health (r ≥ 0.223, P ≤ .02). Educational and community/freelance interpreters trended toward greater adverse physical health, whereas educational and video remote interpreters trended toward more mental health concerns. CONCLUSION: Maintaining the occupational health of sign language interpreters is critical for addressing the language barriers that have resulted in health inequities for deaf communities. Associations of disability, work disability, and pain with mental health warrant a holistic approach in the clinical treatment and research of these essential workers.

The challenges and facilitators to successful translation and adaptation of written self-report psychological measures into sign languages: A systematic review.

Deaf people are known to have significantly poorer reading comprehension skills when compared to their hearing counterparts. This poses significant threats to text-based psychological assessments. The plethora of text-based self-report measures available provides ample opportunity to translate/adapt existing tools from text to sign language. This paper systematically reviewed the challenges and facilitators faced in previous translations/adaptations with the view to inform recommendations for future practice. This paper reports the results of a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-informed systematic review of 30 studies that had translated or discussed the translation of a written self-report measure into sign language following screening against inclusion/exclusion criteria. A systematic search (powered by EbscoHost Research Database and using search terms and Boolean operators), was performed in The Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), Cinahl, Medline, APA PsycInfo, and APA PsycArticles. The Quality Assessment with Diverse Studies tool was used for quality appraisal of the included papers. Challenges/facilitators to effective translation/adaptation were grouped under linguistic, procedural, and cultural. Examples of specific linguistic, procedural, cultural challenges, and facilitators are discussed in the context of previous research and study limitations. Translating/adapting text-based self-report measures to sign language is a linguistically and procedurally demanding endeavor that requires a deep bicultural/bilingual understanding of both deaf and hearing communities. The present results and recommendations can help researchers develop suitably accessible translated/adapted self-report psychological measures and this can have significant implications on healthcare service planning and delivery. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Talking with hands: body representation in British Sign Language users.

Body representation (BR) refers to the mental representation of motor, sensory, emotional and semantic information about the physical body. This cognitive representation is used in our everyday life, continuously, even though most of the time we do not appreciate it consciously. In some cases, BR is vital to be able to communicate. A crucial feature of signed languages (SLs), for instance, is that body parts such as hands are used to communicate. Nevertheless, little is known about BR in SL: is the communicative function of the body overwriting the physical constraints? Here, we explored this question by comparing twelve British Sign Language (BSL) learners to seventeen tango dancers (body expertise but not for communication) and fourteen control subjects (no special body expertise). We administered the Body Esteem Scale (BES), the Hand Laterality Task (HLT) and the Mental Motor Chronometry (MMC). To control for visual imagery, we administered ad hoc control tasks. We did not identify parameters able to differentiate between SL users and the other groups, whereas the more implicit parameters distinguished clearly tango dancers from controls. Importantly, neither tasks on visual imagery nor the BES revealed differences. Our findings offer initial evidence that linguistic use of the body not necessarily influences the cognitive components we explored of body representation.

Insights on Spiritual Care for the Deaf Community.

Communicating effectively with persons who have a hearing disability can be challenging; assessing and providing spiritual care for these individuals is a more formidable expectation. Understanding the culture includes knowing available communication strategies and how best to use sign language interpreters. Building trust, demonstrating respect, and honoring privacy are essential components for nurses who wish to offer spiritual care. Utilizing spiritual caring moments as well as Helen Keller's example of successful communication across the hearing-nonhearing divide gives nurses valuable insights.

Fragilidade na formação dos profissionais de saúde quanto à Língua Brasileira de Sinais: reflexo na atenção à saúde dos surdos / Fragility in the training of health professionals regarding the Brazilian Sign Language: a reflection on the health care of the deaf

RESUMO Objetivos Identificar como é a formação de profissionais da saúde quanto à Língua Brasileira de Sinais (Libras). Métodos Trata-se de estudo descritivo e transversal, desenvolvido com dados secundários, coletados no banco de dados eletrônico do Ministério da Educação. Foram analisados a grade curricular e o projeto pedagógico de todos os cursos de graduação na área da saúde em Instituições de Ensino Superior (IES) brasileiras, procurando-se identificar e caracterizar a disciplina de Libras. Resultados Foram localizados 5317 cursos e, destes, 2293 (43,1%) ofereciam disciplina de Libras, sendo 16,7% como disciplina obrigatória e a maioria (83,3%) como optativa. Em relação ao período ofertado, não houve um padrão, variando desde o primeiro até o décimo. Quanto à carga horária destinada à disciplina, dentre os 2077 cursos que disponibilizavam essa informação, 11,1% ofertavam a disciplina com carga horária de até 20 horas, 49,4% com carga horária entre 21 e 40 horas, 29,9% entre 41 e 60 horas, 9,1% entre 61 e 80 horas. Apenas 0,5% dos cursos destinavam mais que 80 horas para o ensino de Libras. Em média, os cursos de graduação em IES públicas (N=217) dedicavam 53,1 horas ao ensino de Libras, enquanto os cursos de IES privadas (N=1860) dedicavam 45,8 horas. Conclusão Há evidências de fragilidade na formação dos profissionais de saúde quanto ao ensino da Libras, o que reflete diretamente no atendimento integral dos surdos.

ABSTRACT Purpose To identify how Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) training is being conducted in undergraduate health care courses at Higher Education Institutions. Methods This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study, developed using secondary data taken from the Ministry of Education electronic database. The curriculum and pedagogical design of all undergraduate health care courses at Brazilian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) were analyzed, aiming to identify and characterize the Libras discipline. Results 5317 courses were found and, from these, 2293 (43.1%) offered Libras, 16.7% as mandatory and the majority (83.3%) as optional. Regarding the period offered, there was no pattern, ranging from the first to the tenth. Regarding the workload for the discipline, among the 2077 courses that provided this information, 11.1% offered the discipline with a workload of up to 20 hours, 49.4% with a workload between 21 and 40 hours, 29.9% between 41 and 60 hours, and 9.1% between 61 and 80 hours. Only 0.5% of the courses devoted more than 80 hours to teaching Libras. On average, undergraduate courses in public HEIs (N = 217) devoted 53.1 hours to teaching Libras, while private HEI courses (N = 1860) dedicated 45.8 hours. Conclusion There is evidence of weakness in training programs for health professionals regarding teaching Libras, which directly reflects in comprehensive care for the deaf.

Impact of educational (sign language/video modeling) and therapeutic (Glycyrrhiza glabra--liquorice mouth wash) interventions on oral health pertaining to children with hearing impairment: A randomized clinical trial.

PURPOSE: To compare the effect of educational (sign language and video modeling) and therapeutic intervention (liquorice) on oral hygiene status of children with hearing impairment (CHI). METHODS: Ninety-three CHI, in the age range of 5-15 years, were recruited in to the study. Children were assigned to two educational intervention groups: sign language and video modeling. Each group was again randomly divided into two: with one subgroup receiving therapeutic intervention using liquorice as a mouth wash and the other group receiving no intervention. For all children, baseline oral hygiene, gingival, and plaque index scores were recorded and oral prophylaxis was performed. Based on the subgroup to which the child was assigned, oral hygiene instructions were given on a weekly basis, whereas therapeutic intervention was performed twice daily for 28 days. Reassessment was done after the completion of interventions and after 3 months, followed by statistical analysis. RESULTS: There was a significant mean reduction in oral hygiene, gingival, and plaque scores in all the children. The educational intervention could not influence the scores recorded, but the therapeutic intervention with liquorice led to a reduction in all the oral health parameters during the follow-up periods. CONCLUSION: Therapeutic intervention using liquorice as mouth wash along with educational intervention can be suggested in CHI.

iSignIT - Communication App and Concept for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

In medical settings, those who are deaf or hard of hearing and have to rely on sign language are often at a disadvantage when they want to communicate with doctors or other caretakers. Professional translators are not always available. To alleviate the problems, a mobile phrasebook for communication between affected patients and their caretakers was designed and implemented in form of the iSignIT-app. All of the phrases it contains are also available as videos recorded from native speakers of sign language. Based on the positive feedback received so far, we are now in the process of taking further steps to ensure continuing development and obtaining sustainable financing of the project; here, we will outline some of the steps to be taken.

American sign language and deaf culture competency of osteopathic medical students.

The study examined the effectiveness of a workshop on Deaf culture and basic medical American Sign Language for increasing osteopathic student physicians' confidence and knowledge when interacting with ASL-using patients. Students completed a pretest in which they provided basic demographic information, rated their confidence levels, took a video quiz on basic medical signs, and experienced a practical standardized encounter with a Deaf patient. They then attended a 4-hour workshop and, 2 weeks later, completed a posttest. Thirty-three students completed the pretest; 29 attended the workshop; 26 completed the posttest. Video quiz scores increased significantly from pretest to posttest, as did scores for the standardized patient encounter after completion of the workshop. Students also reported increased levels of confidence in interactions with the Deaf community. The results suggest that a single workshop was effective in increasing both confidence and short-term knowledge in interactions with Deaf patients.

Modality-independent neural mechanisms for novel phonetic processing.

The present study investigates whether the inferior frontal gyrus is activated for phonetic segmentation of both speech and sign. Early adult second language learners of Spanish and American Sign Language at the very beginning of instruction were tested on their ability to classify lexical items in each language based on their phonetic categories (i.e., initial segments or location parameter, respectively). Conjunction analyses indicated that left-lateralized inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), superior parietal lobule (SPL), and precuneus were activated for both languages. Common activation in the left IFG suggests a modality-independent mechanism for phonetic segmentation. Additionally, common activation in parietal regions suggests spatial preprocessing of audiovisual and manuovisual information for subsequent frontal recoding and mapping. Taken together, we propose that this frontoparietal network is involved in domain-general segmentation of either acoustic or visual signal that is important to novel phonetic segmentation.

Understanding the personhood of Deaf people with dementia: methodological issues.

This article concerns Deaf people in the United Kingdom, who use sign language, who have a formal diagnosis of dementia and who have participated in interviews in British Sign Language (BSL) about their experience of living with dementia. We address the methodological challenges involved in enabling culturally meaningful participation in circumstances where the non-verbal is not equivalent to the non-linguistic. We demonstrate the use of interpretative narrative representation of data for purposes of cultural brokering. We explore the contribution of Deaf people's experiences and the analysis of their visual, spatial narratives to debates about personhood and the embodied self in dementia studies. Finally, we consider the significance of the situational as cultural in relation to holistic interpretation of narrative.

Electrophysiological correlates of cross-linguistic semantic integration in hearing signers: N400 and LPC.

We explored semantic integration mechanisms in native and non-native hearing users of sign language and non-signing controls. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants performed a semantic decision task for priming lexeme pairs. Pairs were presented either within speech or across speech and sign language. Target-related ERP responses were subjected to principal component analyses (PCA), and neurocognitive basis of semantic integration processes were assessed by analyzing the N400 and the late positive complex (LPC) components in response to spoken (auditory) and signed (visual) antonymic and unrelated targets. Semantically-related effects triggered across modalities would indicate a similar tight interconnection between the signers׳ two languages like that described for spoken language bilinguals. Remarkable structural similarity of the N400 and LPC components with varying group differences between the spoken and signed targets were found. The LPC was the dominant response. The controls׳ LPC differed from the LPC of the two signing groups. It was reduced to the auditory unrelated targets and was less frontal for all the visual targets. The visual LPC was more broadly distributed in native than non-native signers and was left-lateralized for the unrelated targets in the native hearing signers only. Semantic priming effects were found for the auditory N400 in all groups, but only native hearing signers revealed a clear N400 effect to the visual targets. Surprisingly, the non-native signers revealed no semantically-related processing effect to the visual targets reflected in the N400 or the LPC; instead they appeared to rely more on visual post-lexical analyzing stages than native signers. We conclude that native and non-native signers employed different processing strategies to integrate signed and spoken semantic content. It appeared that the signers׳ semantic processing system was affected by group-specific factors like language background and/or usage.

Key signing phrases should be part of student curriculum.

A midwife is calling for sign language to become a compulsory part of nurse training to improve the care of deaf patients.

Serial auditory-evoked potentials in the diagnosis and monitoring of a child with Landau-Kleffner syndrome.

BACKGROUND: A boy, aged 2 1/2 yr, experienced sudden deterioration of speech and language abilities. He saw multiple medical professionals across 2 yr. By almost 5 yr, his vocabulary diminished from 50 words to 4, and he was referred to our speech and hearing center. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to heighten awareness of Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) and emphasize the importance of an objective test battery that includes serial auditory-evoked potentials (AEPs) to audiologists who often are on the front lines of diagnosis and treatment delivery when faced with a child experiencing unexplained loss of the use of speech and language. RESEARCH DESIGN: Clinical report. RESULTS: Interview revealed a family history of seizure disorder. Normal social behaviors were observed. Acoustic reflexes and otoacoustic emissions were consistent with normal peripheral auditory function. The child could not complete behavioral audiometric testing or auditory processing tests, so serial AEPs were used to examine central nervous system function. Normal auditory brainstem responses, a replicable Na and absent Pa of the middle latency responses, and abnormal slow cortical potentials suggested dysfunction of auditory processing at the cortical level. The child was referred to a neurologist, who confirmed LKS. At age 7 1/2 yr, after 2 1/2 yr of antiepileptic medications, electroencephalographic (EEG) and audiometric measures normalized. Presently, the child communicates manually with limited use of oral information. CONCLUSIONS: Audiologists often are one of the first professionals to assess children with loss of speech and language of unknown origin. Objective, noninvasive, serial AEPs are a simple and valuable addition to the central audiometric test battery when evaluating a child with speech and language regression. The inclusion of these tests will markedly increase the chance for early and accurate referral, diagnosis, and monitoring of a child with LKS which is imperative for a positive prognosis.

Phonological processing of rhyme in spoken language and location in sign language by deaf and hearing participants: a neurophysiological study.

AIM: Sign languages (SL), like oral languages (OL), organize elementary, meaningless units into meaningful semantic units. Our aim was to compare, at behavioral and neurophysiological levels, the processing of the location parameter in French Belgian SL to that of the rhyme in oral French. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Ten hearing and 10 profoundly deaf adults performed a rhyme judgment task in OL and a similarity judgment on location in SL. Stimuli were pairs of pictures. RESULTS: As regards OL, deaf subjects' performances, although above chance level, were significantly lower than that of hearing subjects, suggesting that a metaphonological analysis is possible for deaf people but rests on phonological representations that are less precise than in hearing people. As regards SL, deaf subjects scores indicated that a metaphonological judgment may be performed on location. The contingent negative variation (CNV) evoked by the first picture of a pair was similar in hearing subjects in OL and in deaf subjects in OL and SL. However, an N400 evoked by the second picture of the non-rhyming pairs was evidenced only in hearing subjects in OL. The absence of N400 in deaf subjects may be interpreted as the failure to associate two words according to their rhyme in OL or to their location in SL. CONCLUSION: Although deaf participants can perform metaphonological judgments in OL, they differ from hearing participants both behaviorally and in ERP. Judgment of location in SL is possible for deaf signers, but, contrary to rhyme judgment in hearing participants, does not elicit any N400.

Pygmalion in the laboratory.

Testers and bystanders can inadvertently lead subjects to answers in laboratories and in classrooms, in face-to-face tests of human beings and other animals. Many modern investigators avoid leading by using blind tests scrupulously. This article shows how to design blind tests and illustrates common methodological errors that allow leading to confound experimental results. The object is to help experimenters, editors, and readers detect and avoid a common experimental error that often has profound theoretical implications.

A human mirror neuron system for language: Perspectives from signed languages of the deaf.

Language is proposed to have developed atop the human analog of the macaque mirror neuron system for action perception and production [Arbib M.A. 2005. From monkey-like action recognition to human language: An evolutionary framework for neurolinguistics (with commentaries and author's response). Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28, 105-167; Arbib M.A. (2008). From grasp to language: Embodied concepts and the challenge of abstraction. Journal de Physiologie Paris 102, 4-20]. Signed languages of the deaf are fully-expressive, natural human languages that are perceived visually and produced manually. We suggest that if a unitary mirror neuron system mediates the observation and production of both language and non-linguistic action, three prediction can be made: (1) damage to the human mirror neuron system should non-selectively disrupt both sign language and non-linguistic action processing; (2) within the domain of sign language, a given mirror neuron locus should mediate both perception and production; and (3) the action-based tuning curves of individual mirror neurons should support the highly circumscribed set of motions that form the "vocabulary of action" for signed languages. In this review we evaluate data from the sign language and mirror neuron literatures and find that these predictions are only partially upheld.

South African Deaf education and the Deaf community.

In a special section of the american Annals of the Deaf, Deaf education and the Deaf community in South Africa are discussed. The special section is organized into 7 segments: a historical overview to establish context, the educational context, educators and learners, postgraduate education and employment, perspectives of Deaf children and their parents, sport and the arts, and spiritual lives and mental health. Throughout the entire section, however, the central focus is on the overall foundation (or lack thereof) of education for Deaf learners in South Africa.