Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the literature related to gestures and manual signs as a communication tools for persons with communication difficulties in spoken language besides hearing impairments, which intended to examine the...
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the literature related to gestures and manual signs as a communication tools for persons with communication difficulties in spoken language besides hearing impairments, which intended to examine the approach to promoting communication for person with severe and multiple disabilities. Method: From 2000 to 2018, a total of 95 foreign papers related to gesture and manual signs, which were non-verbal communication methods applied to non-hearing impaired subjects, were analyzed. In addition, the sub-contents of 25 experimental papers were analyzed. Results: As a result of analysis by study period, type, subject and topic, there were many researches on the preference and effect of gesture and manual signs among various types of AAC for autistic disorder. In addition, there was a tendency to teach the gesture and manual signs to the subjects of the pre-linguistic communication development and to explore the function and the type of the gesture and manual signs as a promoting element of language development. Conclusion: Gesture and manual signs can be applied to a wide range of persons with communication disorders. It is necessary to revitalize research in Korea as a communication tool for people with severe and multiple disabilities.