Glossary

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Language Erasure(also: Linguistic Erasure, Language Flattening)

The process by which a language's unique characteristics, variations, dialects, and cultural significance are diminished, homogenized, or eliminated — often through the dominance of a majority language or through technologies that oversimplify linguistic complexity. In the…

Langue des Signes Québécoise(also: LSQ, Quebec Sign Language)

The sign language used by the Deaf community in francophone Quebec and in francophone Deaf communities elsewhere in Canada. LSQ is a distinct natural language with its own grammar, lexicon, and cultural tradition — not a signed version of French — and developed historically from…

Libras(also: Brazilian Sign Language, Língua Brasileira de Sinais)

The official sign language of the Deaf community in Brazil, recognized by Brazilian federal law (Law No. 10.436/2002) as a legitimate means of communication and expression. Libras has its own grammar, syntax, and linguistic structure distinct from spoken Brazilian Portuguese. It…

Linear Communication Model(also: Shannon-Weaver Model, Sender-Receiver Model)

A model of communication in which information flows in one direction from a sender to a receiver through a channel, with no feedback mechanism. In the context of AAC, a linear model means the user constructs and delivers a message through the device while the communication…

Lingraphica

A commercially available computerized visual communication system designed to help people with aphasia communicate through icon-based sentence construction. Lingraphica provides a vocabulary of purpose-designed icons that users can arrange to form phrases and sentences, with the…

Linguistic Accessibility

The principle that information, services, and opportunities for participation should be available in a person's preferred language and communication modality. For Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals, linguistic accessibility means providing content and interaction opportunities…

Lip Reading(also: Speechreading, Visual Speech Perception)

The practice of interpreting speech by visually observing the speaker mouth movements, facial expressions, and gestures. While commonly associated with deaf and hard of hearing individuals, lip reading is also used by people with ADHD and auditory processing difficulties as a…

Lip-reading(also: Speechreading, Speech Reading, Visual Speech Perception)

The practice of understanding speech by visually interpreting the movements of the lips, face, and tongue, often used by deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals as a communication strategy. Lip-reading relies on watching the mouth region and facial expressions to decode spoken…

Lipreading(also: Lip reading, Speechreading (narrow sense))

The practice of understanding spoken language by visually interpreting the movements of a speaker's lips, tongue, teeth, jaw, and facial expression. Lipreading is used by many Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people — especially those who acquired hearing loss after learning spoken…

Listener Feedback(also: Listener Response, Feedback Signals)

The signals produced by a listener during conversation that communicate their attentiveness, understanding, agreement, confusion, or emotional response to the speaker without taking a full conversational turn. Listener feedback encompasses verbal backchanneling ("mm-hmm,"…

Literal language processing(also: Literal interpretation)

The tendency to interpret language at face value, understanding words and phrases according to their explicit, dictionary meaning rather than inferring implied, figurative, or contextual meanings. Literal language processing is common among many autistic individuals and can lead…

Look to Speak

A free Android application developed by Google Creative Lab that enables people with speech and motor impairments to communicate by selecting images or pre-written phrases using eye movements detected by the smartphone's front-facing camera. Users navigate by looking left,…

Low-Tech AAC(also: No-Tech AAC, Unaided AAC)

Augmentative and alternative communication methods that require no or minimal technology, including communication boards, picture cards, letter boards, eye-pointing frames, sign language, and gestures. Low-tech AAC is often more immediately accessible, sustainable, and…

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