A MOVEMENT-BASED APPROACH TO LANGUAGE-DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN WHO AREDEAF-BLIND

A movement-based approach to the development of language in children w ith deaf-blindness includes utilization of the four coactive movement phases: resonance, coactive movement, nonrepresentation reference, and deferred imitation. Such an approach stresses the use of structure in the environment as well as the use of a hierarchy of media cues. Thes e cues range from concrete to symbolic in their characteristics and as sist children in learning more complex concepts. A movement-based appr oach uses the salient features of individuals or objects to develop an understanding of the person or object. Such features initially are us ed. to stimulate use of language concerning objects or individuals in the immediate environment, and later to refer to persons or concepts i n a more abstract fashion.