Language abnormality in deaf people with schizophrenia: a problem with classifiers.

INTRODUCTION: Although there is evidence for language abnormality in schizophrenia, few studies have examined sign language in deaf patients with the disorder. This is of potential interest because a hallmark of sign languages is their use of classifiers (semantic or entity classifiers), a reference-tracking device with few if any parallels in spoken languages. This study aimed to examine classifier production and comprehension in deaf signing adults with schizophrenia. METHOD: Fourteen profoundly deaf signing adults with schizophrenia and 35 age- and IQ-matched deaf healthy controls completed a battery of tests assessing classifier and noun comprehension and production. RESULTS: The patients showed poorer performance than the healthy controls on comprehension and production of both nouns and entity classifiers, with the deficit being most marked in the production of classifiers. Classifier production errors affected handshape rather than other parameters such as movement and location. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that schizophrenia affects language production in deaf patients with schizophrenia in a unique way not seen in hearing patients.

Prelingually profoundly deaf schizophrenic patients who hear voices: a phenomenological analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The aims of the study were to examine claims that profoundly deaf schizophrenic patients report auditory hallucinations, and to evaluate proposed explanations that such patients are really describing other symptoms, or that the phenomenon is restricted to those who had heard and understood language prior to becoming deaf. METHOD: A total of 17 schizophrenic/schizoaffective patients with onset of profound deafness prior to the age of 2 years underwent structured psychiatric interview. RESULTS: Ten patients (59%) gave accounts of verbal auditory hallucinations with description of content. These did not appear to be attributable to other psychotic experiences and showed typical characteristics of schizophrenic hallucinations. The symptom was present in six patients who had been deaf from birth or early infancy. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that auditory hallucinations are a common phenomenon in profoundly prelingually deaf schizophrenic patients, which cannot be accounted for by the above explanations.

Detection of behavioural and emotional problems in deaf children and adolescents: comparison of two rating scales.

The aim of this study was to establish rates of behavioural and emotional problems, and of social maladjustment, in a population of deaf children, particularly in relation to different methods of communication. The parents of 84 children who attended two schools for the deaf took part. They completed the parents' checklist (PCL), a behaviour rating scale for deaf children, and the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), a measure widely used in the general population. The two instruments were significantly correlated on the severity of behavioural and emotional problems, but their previously established cut-off scores detected different rates of possible clinical cases, i.e. children with mental health disorders. According to the CBCL, 40% of children were within the clinical range, and 82% were socially dysfunctional compared with the general population. The PCL identified a much higher percentage (77%) of caseness. Behavioural and emotional problems were significantly higher in Asian children. Although all subjects used sign language, the additional use of speech, which may indicate increased hearing ability, had a protective effect for adolescents. The findings are discussed in relation to the validation of the instruments and the development of intervention programmes for deaf children.