Total communication

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Total communication (TC) is an approach to communicating that aims to make use of a number of modes of communication such as signed, oral, auditory, written and visual aids, depending on the particular needs and abilities of the person. Total Communication (TC) is usually described as a philosophy, not a method.

History

The debate over oral and manual methods in deaf education is more than 200 years old.The term "Total Communication" and its specific philosophy were first used by Roy Holcomb as part of a group of educators in southern California. It was adopted by the Maryland school for the deaf as the official name for their educational philosophy in 1967.^[when?] TC was supposed to find a middle ground in age-old disputes between oralism and manualism, and as an alternative to simultaneous communication.^{[citation needed]} In practice, however, most total communication programs use some form of simultaneous communication.^{[citation needed]}

Research

Research on TC in deaf education is hard to do. Deaf students are a small and varied group, and TC looks different from one classroom to the next. A 2002 review by Susan Easterbrooks describes several studies that compared TC with other approaches.

In one study, Geers, Moog and Schick (1984), compared 168 deaf children in spoken-language programs, ages 5-9, to 159 deaf children in TC programs. The two groups took assessments testing them on their English grammar and scored about the same. The spoken-language program kids did better when they could speak, reversely, the TC group did better when they could use sign language.

In another study, Musselman and Churchill (1993), followed 2 groups of profoundly deaf children ages 4-7. One group was a TC program and the other group was a auditory-oral program (a program that focuses on listening and speaking, with no signing). The study found that the two groups did not differ in language ability or by mode of communication. The study did conclude, however, that how mothers talked with their kids mattered more than which program the kids were in. Researchers found that mothers who were less dominant in taking turns in conversation made bigger gains in expressive language.

A smaller study by Yoshinaga-Itano, Snyder and Mayberry (1996), compared 21 students who used signs, speech and hearing (TC) to 25 students who used speech, hearing and lipreading (oral approach). They measured how well the students wrote using variables such as vocabulary and sentence structure. They found no significant difference in written language between the two groups.

Finally, Moores and Sweet (1990), tested two groups of students ages 16-17 who had profound hearing loss. Group one consisted of 65 students who used ASL and had deaf parents, and group two consisted of 65 students who used TC and had hearing parents. Researchers tested language, reading, writing, intelligence, speech, and hearing. The groups scored similarly on on most measures. Researchers found that speech skills were not a good predictor of how well a student could read. However, how well a student did understand English, as a language, predicted how well they were able to read and write. The researchers concluded the two groups had more in common than not and measures of speech did not predict reading and writing proficiency, but skill in English did.

Easterbrooks concluded that the most important factor is whether a child gets a full language early or not, through everyday conversations with a parent. She found that it did not seem to matter whether that language came through spoken English, signed English, or ASL. She argued that the better question is not which mode is best, but how to give every deaf child early access to a language.

See also

• Bilingual-bicultural education
• Oralism
• Manualism
• Simultaneous communication
• Cued speech
• Deaf education
• Manually coded English
• American Sign Language
• Cochlear implant
• Deaf culture
• Augmentative and alternative communication
• Makaton

References

Further reading

• Evans, Lionel (1987). "Total Communication". In Van Cleve, John V. (ed.). Gallaudet Encyclopedia of Deaf People and Deafness. Vol. 3. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company. pp. 173–176. ISBN 9780070792296. OCLC 13821696.
• Lowenbraun, S., Appelman, K., & Callahan, J. (1980). Teaching the hearing impaired through total communication. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.
• Mayer, P. & Lowenbraun, S. (1990). Total communication use among elementary teachers of hearing-impaired children. American Annals of the Deaf, 135, 257–263.
• Moores, D. F. (1996). Educating the deaf. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Schlesinger, H. (1986). "Total communication in perspective". In D. M. Luterman (Ed.), Deafness in Perspective (pp. 87–116). College-Hill Press: San Diego, CA.
• Scouten, E. (1984). Turning points in the education of deaf people. Danville, IL: The Interstate Printers and Publishers, Inc.

External links

• Total Communication- The ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education, USA.
• Interview with David Denton

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