Sign in

Dr. Zed Sehyr

@zedsehyr.bsky.social
693 followers 505 following 152 posts

Assistant Professor in Communication Sciences & Disorders @ChapmanUniversity. Director of of Cognition, Language & Plasticity Lab: www.claplab.org Co-founder of ASL-LEX database: asl-lex.org Pronouns: She/her.

PostsRepliesMedia
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Posters at #SNL2026 by Cognition Language and Plasticity Lab and collaborators! Come by for a chat on Thu Session D (D8) and and Fri Sessions E (E54) & F (F74)
Top panel graphic shows a grayscale image of a landscape and mountains with a fountain and a church spire. CLaP Lab poster presentations at the Society for Neurobiology of Language conference, #SNL2026, in Geneva. Three stacked panels list:

Thursday, 4:30 pm, Poster Session D, D8: “Canonical ERP effects do not depend on spoken language experience but vary in deaf signers.” Zed Sehyr and Erin Campbell compare brain responses related to perception, attention, and language in deaf signers and hearing non-signers.

Friday, 11 am, Poster Session E, E54: “The neurobiology of word and sign semantic processing in deaf adult signers: Evidence from N400 priming and language proficiency.” Zed Sehyr and Erin Campbell examine how language proficiency and modality shape semantic access in deaf ASL–English bilingual adults.

Friday, 2:45 pm, Poster Session F, Sandbox Series, F74: “Are deaf readers sensitive to semantic violations under high orthographic overlap in the parafovea?” Using BARK versus BANK, this study examines deaf signers’ sensitivity to misspellings in peripheral reading. Authors: Zed Sehyr, Samantha Schwarz, Sara Milligan, and Elizabeth Schotter.

The graphic includes the Cognition, Language & Plasticity Lab logo, Geneva’s waterfront, brain illustrations with waveforms, a person signing “cat,” and an eye beside the words BARK and BANK.
130
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
🧠🤟 How is meaning organized in ASL? "It's a small world of signs: Semantic network structure in American Sign Language based on free associations" We asked deaf ASL signers to give three meaning-related signs for each sign in ASL-LEX that immediately came to mind.
osf.io
OSF
1114
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
coopmike48 @coopmike48.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
How A.I. Learned that Some Cognitive Science Views of the Reading Process are Wrong and Federal and State SoR Laws are Existential A Refutation of Mark Seidenberg’s Language at the Speed of Sight and Emily Hanford’s Sold a Story DENNY TAYLOR teachingindangeroustimes.substack.com/p/how-ai-lea...
011
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
A scientist who just lost her grant cuts straight to the heart of it: “Requiring that NIH only fund work leading directly to a drug or other biomedical intervention… would rule out much basic research funded by the agency.” It’s pathetic & harmful to limit our understanding of health like this
3329146
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Naomi Caselli @naomicaselli.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
I was heading to Capitol Hill to a science fair on cancelled grants when we learned our grant was reinstated. Yay! But that’s not the end of the story. (9/16)
A sign in front of a marble atrium reading "The things we'll never know" in fading color, with the subtitle "a science fair of canceled grants"Naomi Caselli and Michelle Koplitz, two white women, in front of the Capitol building.
1181
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
The Last Mile with USAID @thelastmilewithusaid.substack.com · 16/07/2026
One rule may seem technical. Five rules, moving in the same direction, begin to resemble a pattern documented in democratic backsliding: expanding executive control over the bureaucracy while narrowing institutional checks on personnel decisions. Pay attention.
56227
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Good morning. Today is the LAST DAY to comment on the proposed OMB rule that will, honestly, destroy science in the US. And it will do FAR MORE THAN THAT. www.theverge.com/science/9576...
theverge.com
The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it
‘Everyone will be affected, not just scientists. Every community in the country.’
13566489
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Submit a comment to oppose the new OMB plans to politicise and destroy science. Disorders and diseases don’t stop based on who is in power!! If there’s one thing you do to help keep the world a better place, do this
010
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
ManyLanguages @manylanguagesc.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
If you want to contribute to any of our three projects (ManyTones, CLAPS, Many Uses), you can reach out to the project leads. You will find their contact information here: many-languages.com/projects.html
many-languages.com
Projects
053
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Michael D. Green, PhD @michaeldgreen.phd · 28/05/2026
President of MIT not mincing words today in @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/05/27/s...
So let me say it as clearly as I can: Without basic scientific research, supported by the kind of farsighted public investment that allows large-scale, undirected, curiosity-driven inquiry, the scientific pipeline will run dry.
In daily life, people may not feel the effects right away, or even in 10 years. But we will feel it. And when someone we love needs therapies that could have emerged but didn't or when other countries now
investing in science can launch new science-based industries or run their societies on vast resources of fusion energy or reap the benefits of quantum computing power or advanced medical breakthroughs, America will wish it sustained its leadership in scientific research here and now.
Sally Kornbluth is the president of MIT.
447188336434
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Sponsored by or applying for federal grants? You want to know this.
121
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Karen Emmorey @kemmorey.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
New paper on fingerspelling (deaf) and print (hearing) spelling errors with @zedsehyr.bsky.social! One cool result: deaf fingerspellers are more accurate in preserving double letters (phonologically marked in FS), highlighting how FS can support writing. Open access paper here: tinyurl.com/5n728jpd
tinyurl.com
Orthographic representations in American Sign Language fingerspelling | Applied Psycholinguistics | Cambridge Core
Orthographic representations in American Sign Language fingerspelling - Volume 47
093
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
📢 New research on ASL fingerspelling is out! We asked how orthographic knowledge (letter identity, order & quantity) is represented when Deaf signers fingerspell, and how this compares to how hearing speakers spell written English. Open access paper here: tinyurl.com/5n728jpd
tinyurl.com
Orthographic representations in American Sign Language fingerspelling | Applied Psycholinguistics | Cambridge Core
Orthographic representations in American Sign Language fingerspelling - Volume 47
176
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Deaffest online cinema - watch now, unlock 2 movies for free! 🤟🏼 deaffestonlinecinema.eventive.org/films
deaffestonlinecinema.eventive.org
DEAFFEST ONLINE CINEMA
000
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Lee Keyes @leekeyes.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
A town hall focused on dealing with efforts to dismantle social and behavioral sciences at the federal level. us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
us06web.zoom.us
Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: COSSA Town Hall: Saving SBE. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.
This meeting is limited to those affiliated with COSSA member organizations (cossa.org/members). Please provide your affiliation below. Not a member? Contact wnaus@cossa.org.
011
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Who’s coming to sunny San Diego in November?
000
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
More cuts to science funding, NSF Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences directorate to dissolve www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum...
scientificamerican.com
Trump administration proposes massive budget cuts to science
The White House budget proposal would also curb federal payments for scientific publishing
010
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
ManyLanguages @manylanguagesc.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
We’re trialling a new social activity: #ManyLanguagesChallengeOfTheMonth Running large-scale projects means encountering puzzles, hiccups, and the occasional “why is this happening” moment.
144
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
UMassLinguistics @umasslinguistics.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
How a Denver school engaged Latino dads to tutor students in the community on reading #NPR www.npr.org/2025/11/...
011
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 21/11/2025
ICYMI Dept of Education will no longer considers these professional degrees: Nursing Public health Social work Physician assistant Occupational therapy Physical therapy Audiology Speech-language pathology Social work Counseling & therapy Health Admin A smaller health workforce makes us all sicker
62608293
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Much of the way we articulate words isn’t random. It reflects how the brain balances effort & clarity. Common words are shorter & more “shrunk”, confusable words are pronounced more clearly. We asked if ASL signs show similar patterns of reduction using pose-tracking on thousands of ASL signs.
1124
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
In good news today, ASL live interpreting is to be reinstated for White House press briefings! slator.com/us-judge-rul...
slator.com
US Judge Rules Against White House on ASL; Administration Appeals
A US judge rules against the Trump administration on live ASL at press briefings; The White House appeals.
031
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Karen Emmorey @kemmorey.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
New case study of a Deaf autistic signer finds autism affects both linguistic and affective facial expressions, supporting accounts grounded in motor and maybe prosodic difficulties. Also supports effective languaging strategies beyond the neurotypical norm. www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15...
mdpi.com
0106
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
The CLaP Lab had an amazing time connecting with the Deaf community at DeaFestival Riverside! 🧠✨ Thanks to everyone who stopped by to learn about language, the brain, and our research! www.claplab.org #deafawarenessmonth
Four women stand together and smile under a canopy at an outdoor outreach event, with a display table behind them labeled "Cognition, Language & Plasticity Lab" featuring educational materials and a model brain held by one of the group members.A young woman wearing a “Learn Language, It’s Very Handy” shirt communicates in sign language with an older man holding a walking stick at an outdoor booth for the Cognition, Language & Plasticity Lab, which is set up with flyers, brain models, candy, and outreach materials under a canopy.Two smiling women wearing Chapman University shirts sit side by side at a Cognition, Language & Plasticity Lab booth, which is covered with flyers, branded pens, candy, and brain-themed materials for outreach at an outdoor event.
030
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Using standardized ERPCore tasks, our new study shows subtle but consistent neural adaptations in visual recognition, attention, motor preparation or memory updating in deaf ASL signers, possibly due to lifelong experience with visual communication. Poster A48 🙂 with @erinecampbell.bsky.social
140
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Lorna Quandt @lornaquandt.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
Coming at you from Gallaudet University to share that on-the-ground prep for the Society for Neurobiology of Language #SNL2025 is well underway! We cannot wait to welcome more than 500 of you, neuroscientists and linguists, to our campus tomorrow! Say hi if you see me running around!
1163
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
🧠 #sign #language #linguists this conference in #Poland looks interesting!
030
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
ManyLanguages @manylanguagesc.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
The ManyTones project is looking for several lead positions. See poster for details. 📢📣✨ Get involved! 🎉🤝🌟
12016
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Diane Lillo-Martin @dclm.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Want to know more about the Family ASL project? Check out our new paper “Language and Cognitive Development in Bimodal Bilingual Deaf Children in Hearing Families: Three Case Studies.” It’s part of a special issue on Lang & Cog Dev in Deaf Children www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15...
mdpi.com
12515
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
Wow what a fantastic new opportunity for students in #CSD to learn #ASL and #deaf culture at Penn State! great news!! 🙌🏻@pennstateuniv.bsky.social hhd.psu.edu/csd/minor/asl
hhd.psu.edu
Minor in American Sign Language | Penn State College of Health and Human Development
The American Sign Language (ASL) minor is for students who want to acquire proficiency in ASL and gain a deeper understanding of Deaf culture, communication, and history. This program provides both li...
020
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
😢
000
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
Congratulations to Dr. Brennan @neurivulets.bsky.social for successfully delivering a PhD baby yesterday! What a delightful presentation and impactful research on neural networks for ASL. In words of @kemmorey.bsky.social “Brennan sets the bar for quality of research high!”
140
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Cognitive Science Society @cogscisociety.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
On stage now: Josh Tenenbaum asks how AI can mirror human cognition and what cognitive science can offer AI in return. #CogSci2025 #AI Watch live: underline.io/events/489/m...
1283
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
If you are also worried about ScienceDirect’s AI slop feature, you can directly contact them here: service.elsevier.com/app/answers/...
service.elsevier.com
I believe I’ve identified a harmful error in an Elsevier product. How can I let Elsevier know? - ScienceDirect Support Center
I believe I’ve identified a harmful error in an Elsevier product. How can I let Elsevier know?
22311
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
I have sent ScienceDirect the following questions and asked them to take down their harmful AI feature. Let’s see what they answer.
While reading a paper on ScienceDirect I noticed hyperlinks that lead to AI summaries. 

I have several questions:

1) Have authors consented to these hyperlinks in their scientific articles? 

2) If I were to publish my work with Elsevier, do I risk that hyperlinks to AI summaries will be added to my papers without my consent?

3) Is ScienceDirect aware that these AI 'summaries' are confabulations, spreading misinformation, and polluting scientific knowledge? 

4) Can you please remove the AI feauture from your website, and allow researchers and students unbiased access to the original scientific sources? 

I look forward to your answers. Thank you in advance. 

Kind regards, 

Prof. Iris van Rooij
Department of Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence
Radboud University, The Netherlands
513041
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Linda Holmes @lindaholmes.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
Here’s our CEO’s statement. Factually, I just want people to understand that you can still help a lot if this is something you care about. And because at this very hard moment I am not in a position to answer for the network, I’m going to keep this closed. (3/3) www.npr.org/2025/08/01/g...
npr.org
Statement from Katherine Maher, NPR President & CEO, on Closure of Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Today, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced that it will begin a "wind-down of its operations" and ultimate full operational closure following the passage of a federal rescissions p...
0850243
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Listening-related fatigue disproportionately impacts deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) individuals, especially those who rely on lipreading or have had limited early access to ASL. 🔍 In a survey of 152 DHH adults, we found:
1135
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
In this BSL video summary, Kearsy Cormier revisits our highly cited 2015 paper on constructed action in British Sign Language (BSL), co-authored with Sandra Smith & @zedsehyr.bsky.social What is constructed action, you ask?
142
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
ACLU @aclu.org · 16/06/2025
BREAKING: A federal judge reversed National Institutes of Health's terminations of hundreds of critical research grants that were canceled because of their alleged connection to disfavored topics, including diversity, equity, inclusion, and gender identity. This is a major win for public health.
365324988264
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Joshua Tucker @jatucker.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
Cutting NIH or NSF funding sounds abstract. Seeing what research is actually being cut makes it real. Kudos to @nytimes.com for this piece: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Here Are the Nearly 2,500 Medical Research Grants Canceled or Delayed by Trump
Some cuts have been starkly visible, but the country’s medical grant-making machinery has also radically transformed outside the public eye.
3213134
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Linguists & linguistically minded friends! If you are interested in how signs are organized in the mind, consider joining new seminar series "The Signing Mind" hosted by researchers at @bcbl.bsky.social + IDGS Hamburg University. The first seminar is 5/19 5pm CEST sites.google.com/view/signing...
sites.google.com
The Signing Mind
1206
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
Absolutely devastating news: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.
Update: The US National Science Foundation
(NSF) terminated roughly 380 grants on Friday, 2 May, an NSF staff member told Nature. That raises the total number of terminated grants to approximately 1,425.
Staff members at the US National Science Foundation (NSF) were told on 30 April to
"stop awarding all funding actions until further notice," according to an email seen by Nature.
The policy prevents the NSF, one of the world's biggest supporters of basic research, from awarding new research grants and from supplying additional increments of money or subawards to existing grants. But researchers should be able to draw down money from grant funds that they have already received, NSF staff members say. Theancauy receivel, not slam membelosay. the
email does not provide a reason for the freeze and says that it will last "until further notice.
RELATED
Earlier this week,
NSF leadership also introduced a new policy directing staff members to
Will US science survive
screen grant
Trump 2.0?
proposals for
"topics or activities
that may not be in alignment with agency priorities". Proposals judged not "in alignment" must be returned to the applicants by NSF employees. The policy has not been made public but was described in documents seen by Nature.
An NSF staff member says that although good science can still be funded, the policy has the potential to be "Orwellian
nuarranch" Anstharcenfmamhar couchas the potential to be "Orwellian overreach". Another staff member says,
"They are butchering the gold standard merit review process that was established at
NSF over decades". One program officer says they are resigning because of the policy.
Nature spoke with five NSF staffers for this story, all on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
An NSF spokesperson declined Nature's request for comment.
Continuing turmoil
The changes are hitting an agency already in crisis. In the past two weeks, the NSF has terminated roughly 1,040 grants that would have awarded US$739 million to researchers and their institutions. The agency's director, Sethuraman Panchanathan, resigned last month.RELATED
Uncertainty is also being felt by
scientists outside the agency. Colin Carlson, an expert
NSF slashes prestigious
PhD fellowship awards by half
in disease
emergence at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut,
leads an initiative to predict viruses that pose pandemic threats. The project, which involves roughly 50 researchers across multiple universities, is funded by a $US12.5 million NSF grant. The project's latest round of funding was approved, but Carlson worries about subsequent rounds, and the fate of other researchers. Unless it is lifted, the freeze "is going to destroy people's labs," Carlson says.
Funding for the NSF, as for all other federal agencies, is set by the US Congress. To date, the agency has received only about one-quarter of the funding that Congress appropriated to it for the current fiscal year,
033
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Research briefs from VL2 open access! Perfect Friday reading! Quality science 🤓😍
020
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
😱
020
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
American Psychological Association speaks up after NSF terminates 1,000+ grants! “By halting research of this type we risk denying individuals high-quality care based solely on their heritage or background..our ability to understand & deliver effective services to ALL Americans..will be diminished”
a welcome development for the American Psychological Association (APA) starting to speak up, now after 1,000+ terminated NSF grants
063
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
How can we work together to promote the importance of science and its benefits? Here is an idea:
020
Reposted by Dr. Zed Sehyr
Science Homecoming @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Science Homecoming is in the news today, talking about our mission and results 🧪🏠 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
How we’re battling Trump’s science cuts across small-town America
Neuroscientist Jessica Cantlon is urging scientists to use the power of local newspapers in the fight against US research-funding cuts.
0147
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Even if you don’t have a disability, you likely know someone who does, a loved one or a dear friend perhaps. Consider deeply the harm such a registry can lead to if we allow this.
143
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
A fantastic post by @erinecampbell.bsky.social who led our recent project examining the relationship between form and meaning in language on a large scale. Paper out now in @pnas.org
050
Dr. Zed Sehyr @zedsehyr.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Watch #science butchery and bloodshed unfold. By the way, the word “woman” is banned from federally funded research. I guess we now gain insights about menstrual and reproductive health from studying men.
010