Manual communication skills in aphasia.

This study investigated the acquisition and use of American Sign Language (ASL) and American Indian Gestural Code (Amerind) in 8 aphasic adults. Subjects received 2 hours of instruction for 4 weeks in 20 signs from each system. No difference was found in ease of acquisition between the sign systems in these subjects. However, when specific subject characteristics were noted, auditory comprehension skills wer significantly related to subjects' abilities to learn the signs. Subjects' residual expressive language skills were found not to be related to their abilities to learn either sign system.