Medical Sign Language: Easily Understood Definitions of Commonly Used Medical, Dental, and First Aid Terms

Essentially a specialized medical dictionary, this book explains medical terms and shows how to translate the English words into American Sign Language (ASL), the sign language of the deaf. From abdomen to zoster, the text encompasses hundreds of medical and dental terms: body parts and their functions, diseases, symptoms, drugs, procedures, instruments, specialties, and many other pertinent concepts, practices and objects. Each entry lists the term, succinctly defines it, and places it in context. Detailed descriptions of the appropriate sign or signs follow, accompanied by clear line drawings of how to perform the sign. Accepted variants are included and, where appropriate, fingerspelling is advised. After the lexicon, the book presents numerous anatomical drawings that further clarify medical terms. Labeled drawings of the external parts of the body; the respiratory, urinary and reproductive systems; the fetus; details of the heart, brain, eyes, ears and mouth; and the skeleton and spinal column are included. Medical Sign Language will prove valuable to many people. Deaf persons will find it beneficial both as an ASL medical phrasebook and as a medical dictionary. Medical professionals-physicians, dentists, nurses, and allied health care personnel can profitably use it either as a textbook for learning the medical vocabulary of ASL or as an in-office reference.