ASHA Learning Pass

Fingerspelling is prominent among educated deaf and culturally Deaf adults who use American Sign Language (ASL). Research suggests that d/Deaf signers use the same cognitive processes in “reading” fingerspelling that they use in reading print. This session reports comparative measures of speechreading across three tests of varied difficulty in 44 d/Deaf adults who also took a pseudo-word fingerspelling test presented with and without mouth movements. Presenters translate findings to encourage clinical research and practical application for audiologists and speech-language pathologists working with hard-of-hearing and deaf adults.

This course is a recorded technical research session from the 2021 ASHA Convention Virtual Library (session 4626V).

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• Discuss the importance of fingerspelling research and fingerspelling application/use 
• Explain speechreading research and measures, particularly with the d/Deaf population
• Generalize empirical findings to clinical practice

Presenter Information

Steven Kulsar, AuD, PhD, CCC-A (Presenting Author), is a licensed audiologist, currently employed by HearingLife in Lorton, VA, where he performs an array of comprehensive assessments and provides education and treatment to patients, including hearing aid technology. Dr. Kulsar completed his undergraduate and AuD degrees at James Madison University and earned his PhD from Gallaudet University.

Financial Disclosures:

• None

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• This report is based on dissertation research at Gallaudet University

Brenda Seal, PhD, CCC-SLP (Nonpresenting Author), is professor emerita in Communication Sciences and Disorders at James Madison University and retired professor and director of speech-language pathology at Gallaudet University.

Financial Disclosures:

• None

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• ASHA-certified bilingual (ASL and English) speech-language pathologist 
• Served as Dr. Kulsar's dissertation chair

Assessment Type

Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.

To earn continuing education credit, you must complete the learning assessment by March 9, 2028.

Program History and CE Information

Content origination date: November 2021
End date: March 9, 2028