Use of picture dictionaries to promote written communication by students with hearing and cognitive impairments

Abstract

This study investigated the use of picture dictionaries for expressive communication by students with deafness and limited literary skills at community-based vocational sites. Students were taught to use picture dictionaries—small notebooks consisting of symbols with corresponding words—to write printed messages to their communication partners. The results indicated that the picture dictionaries for note writing facilitated the students' written, expressive communication and that the dictionaries were preferred by the students over symbol-based communication boards.

• augmentative communication
• deaf
• mild mental retardation
• picture dictionary