The purpose of this procurement is to study two different groups of congenitally deaf individuals: those trained via Total Communication; and those exposed to American Sign Language from early development. The contractor has access to a large number of congenitally deaf adolescents who received their early language training through one of these two approaches. Collaboration will occur between the NINCDS, the contractor and another institution chosen to study the Oral Approach. The institution will select, design, and construct standardized and experimental test procedures. The main objective of this project is to identify the factors related to the outcome of reading and writing training within each of the three approaches.
