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Why Sign Language Research Is Essential for Understanding Language and Language Disorder.

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Title: Why Sign Language Research Is Essential for Understanding Language and Language Disorder.
Authors: Shield, Aaron1 shielda@miamioh.edu
Source: Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research. Jul2026, Vol. 69 Issue 7, p3381-3384. 4p.
Subject Terms: *Language & languages, *Deafness in children, *Autism, *Language disorders, *Asperger's syndrome, *Sign language, *Language acquisition, Linguistics, Communicative disorders research, Hypothesis, Treatment of communicative disorders
Abstract: Purpose: Sign language research has often been framed as supplementary to spoken language studies. In this article, I argue that sign language research is not only equal in value but also essential to understanding the human language faculty and its disorders. Method: I present three arguments: that sign language reveals phenomena unobservable in speech, enables the testing of otherwise untestable hypotheses, and helps disentangle speech from language. Results: Drawing on research with deaf children with autism and other language disorders, I demonstrate how signed languages can transform both theoretical models and clinical approaches to language impairment. Conclusion: Sign languages provide a unique empirical lens through which to view linguistic and clinical phenomena that would otherwise remain obscured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database: Education Research Complete
Description
Abstract:Purpose: Sign language research has often been framed as supplementary to spoken language studies. In this article, I argue that sign language research is not only equal in value but also essential to understanding the human language faculty and its disorders. Method: I present three arguments: that sign language reveals phenomena unobservable in speech, enables the testing of otherwise untestable hypotheses, and helps disentangle speech from language. Results: Drawing on research with deaf children with autism and other language disorders, I demonstrate how signed languages can transform both theoretical models and clinical approaches to language impairment. Conclusion: Sign languages provide a unique empirical lens through which to view linguistic and clinical phenomena that would otherwise remain obscured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:10924388
DOI:10.1044/2026_JSLHR-25-00566