American Sign Language Analysis

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The Deaf are a linguistic minority who face many communication barriers in the health care setting. For the Deaf population, American Sign Language (ASL) is the preferred method of communication, if not their native language. ASL is its own language, consisting of syntax, grammar, and vocabulary separate from that of English. Thus for many Deaf individuals, English is a second language and a language that they may not be completely literate in. This is critical to consider as most health care information is delivered in English and may not have a translated version in ASL. Deaf and hard of hearing individuals are more visual, it seems intuitive that a solution may lie within biomedical visualization. What is the best way to supply information …show more content…
The video is 30 minutes long and covers risk factors, testing and treatment in multiple modalities including ASL, captions and an English voice over. The researchers created a 10-item survey to test participant knowledge before viewing the video, which was then completed a second time after watching the video. To determine long-term learning, the participants were asked to answer the same 10-question survey 2 months later. The researchers found that on average the women answered 3 questions correctly before watching the video, 8 questions correctly after watching the video and 6 questions correctly after 2 …show more content…
This thesis explores how Deaf and hard of hearing populations seek out health information to resolve a health need. The study explains the main sources of health information for the Deaf and hard of hearing as well as their negative and positive attributes. Physicians are a top source of information, but are often a source of fear for these patients who may experience miscommunication, as doctors tend to use communication that is quick and to the point, while Deaf culture uses story telling and emotion. The result of this is that such patients may turn to other sources such as conventional media or their peers. One problem with conventional media such as books, brochures and captioned videos, is that they may be above the reading level of the patient and thus may not provide adequate information. These information seekers may also turn to fellow peers for information, but these peers may be misinformed. The Internet is another medium for information gathering but is also filled with misinformation or sources that may not be accessible. Thus Deaf and hard of hearing individuals use a variety of sources to gather information similarly to their hearing peers, but have different needs to

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