Auditory performance of 40 5-year-old children was measured using a speech signal that simulated the amplified signal a child with hearing loss would hear. Subjects were restricted in their access to speech due to the hearing aid, the decreased sensation level (simulated hearing loss) at which they listened, and distance. (Contains references.)…

Sixteen children with moderate to profound sensorineural hearing loss were trained on the production and auditory perception of sibilants over two 2-week periods. Perception performance improved significantly during training periods with a small amount of carryover to non-training contrast periods. Improvements in production performance occurred…

This study surveyed 35 mothers of cochlear implant (CI) candidates or current users on the relative importance of various topics in a parent-targeted intervention program preceding and/or following cochlear implantation. Suggestions for an optimal intervention include use of a multidisciplinary team, information on many topics and services, and…

Seventeen children (ages 8-10) with hearing loss were tested on four types of tasks (speech perception, phonetic awareness, recall of word strings, and comprehension of sentences with complex syntax) and results were compared to controls. Subjects showed evidence of restricted access to acoustic information in the speech signal. (Contains…

A study involving 20 children (ages 4-9) using cochlear implants compared the articulation of those who used oral communication only (n=10) and those who used total communication (TC). Results from the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation indicate those using only oral communication committed significantly fewer errors than TC users. (Contains…

A study examined language skills in 44 pediatric cochlear implant users. All participants received implants before age 6 and were programmed with state-of-the-art stimulation strategies (Continuous Interleaved Sampler or Spectral Peak) since the day of initial stimulation. Postimplantation language development proceeded at a pace that was not…

A study considered the validity of portions of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (MCDI) for 50 pediatric cochlear implant users (ages 1-6) who exceeded the age ranges for which these inventories were normed. Results indicate MCDI scores plus age could be used to obtain Reynell Developmental Language Scales scores. (Contains…

A study examined the relationship between parent word familiarity and the language development of pediatric cochlear implant users (ages 3- 8). Thirty-two parents rated their familiarity with 150 words. Results indicated a significant relationship between parents' ratings and children's receptive vocabulary and language abilities, as well as their…

A study investigated whether differences in working memory could account for variance in word recognition and receptive vocabulary skills of children (ages 5-16) using oral communication (n=32) and total communication (n=29). A contribution from working memory was observed only for the span tasks that incorporated an auditory processing component.…

A structured analysis of three basal readers written for grades 2-5 was conducted using the T-unit (any independent clause) as the primary unit of analysis. The number of T-units per 100 words, the number of words per T-unit, the number of clauses per T-unit, and the number of morphemes per T-unit (a new index of linguistic maturity) are reported.…

A language assessment procedure was used with spontaneous spoken and written language samples of 13 orally trained children with hearing loss in integrated classrooms in two Israeli elementary schools. Results revealed significant differences between spoken and written language samples of these children in various correct syntactic structures,…

A study compared reading-achievement level of 40 children with deafness who received the Nucleus multichannel cochlear implants between ages 2 and 13 with that of children with deafness without cochlear implants. Nearly one half of children with cochlear implants were reading at or within 8 months of grade level. (Author/CR)

This study surveyed teachers and students (some with hearing impairments) in 23 elementary classrooms (in Rochester, Minnesota) equipped with commercially available, narrow-band freefield FM systems. Teachers and students rated the systems very positively as helping them to understand the teacher and other students better. (DB)

A survey of 267 instructional programs for children with hearing impairments found that schools continue to use basal readers and the language experience program extensively with students with hearing impairments; however, almost four of every five programs report that they use a whole-language orientation to reading instruction. (Author/CR)

Describes a classroom-based research project that studied the development of social skills of eight heterogeneously grouped deaf students, ages 8 and 9. Activities that fostered empathy development are described, as well as ways students learned and applied an understanding of perspectives in communication exchanges, literacy development, and…