Early Communicative Skills of Children with Normal Hearing and Hearing Loss Depending on Chronological and Hearing Ages

Objectives: The evaluation of speech and language is crucial for children with normal hearing (NH) and hearing loss (HL). The aim of this study was to investigate the early communicative skills of children with NH and HL and to compare the performance depending on chronological age (CA) and hearing age (HA). Methods: Four tools, Korean MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (K M-B CDI), Sequenced Language Scale for Infants (SELSI), Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile (CSBS DP) checklist and behavior sample were used. The data was collected from 50 children, 26 NH and 24 HL from 4 to 56 months of age. The average age of NH and HL groups was between 17- and 19-months-old, respectively. The HA of the HL group was 13-months-old. They were tested every two to three months. The developmental progress was analyzed by CA and HA. Results: With K M-B CDI, when CA and HA were compared for the HL group, the production of expressive language did not show any difference, but the receptive language and action-gesture scores were significantly better in HA at 7-9 months and 19-24 months. With SELSI, both receptive and expressive languages showed significantly better scores in HA (F-(1,F-73)=0.580, p<.05, F-(1,F-73)=11.036, p<.05). With CSBS DP, the HA showed significantly better social scores for checklist (F-(1,F-63)=6.248, p<.05). Conclusion: As the HA of the HL group showed superior performance compared to the corresponding age of the NH group even in the early stage, the effectiveness of HA following fitting of amplification device and the appropriate intervention has been implicated.