Teachers' Use of Simultaneous Communication: Effects on the Signed and Spoken Components

We examined the correspondence between spoken and signed English when used simultaneously by teachers in Australia to determine whether the difficulties reported with other systematic sign systems are also relevant for the Australasian version. The teachers, all experienced in working with deaf students, were found to be more than 90% accurate in reproducing on their hands what they were saying, but at some cost to the oral aspects of the simultaneous communication. We also discuss the implications of the findings for the use of simultaneous communication with deaf students.