Quantity and Quality of Caregivers' Linguistic Input to 18-Month and 3-Year-Old Children Who Are Hard of Hearing.

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to examine the quantity and quality of caregiver talk directed to children who are hard of hearing (CHH) compared with children with normal hearing (CNH). For the CHH only, the study explored how caregiver input changed as a function of child age (18 months versus 3 years), which child and family factors contributed to variance in caregiver linguistic input at 18 months and 3 years, and how caregiver talk at 18 months related to child language outcomes at 3 years.

Design: Participants were 59 CNH and 156 children with bilateral, mild-to-severe hearing loss.

Speech sound production in 2-year-olds who are hard of hearing.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to (a) compare the speech sound production abilities of 2-year-old children who are hard of hearing (HH) to children with normal hearing (NH), (b) identify sources of risk for individual children who are HH, and (c) determine whether speech sound production skills at age 2 were predictive of speech sound production skills at age 3.

Method: Seventy children with bilateral, mild-to-severe hearing loss who use hearing aids and 37 age- and socioeconomic status-matched children with NH participated. Children's speech sound production abilities were assessed at 2 and 3 years of age.