| Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH) demonstrate delayed pragmatic
language development compared to their age-matched hearing peers (Goberis, Beams, Dalpes,
Abrisch, Baca, & Yoshinaga-Itano, 2012). Early identification and intervention for social
language use in children who are DHH will lead to overall improvements in language and
pragmatic skills over time. Pragmatic skills are assessed in a variety of ways included parentreported
questionnaires. The Language Use Inventory (LUI; O’Neill, 2007) has been
successfully applied to children from different populations but not yet to children who are DHH.
An increased understanding of the pragmatic profile of young children who are DHH can aid in
the early identification and intervention of these children who exhibit pragmatic language
deficits. The purpose of this study is to create a profile of the performance of young children who
are DHH on the LUI, as well as to reveal and confirm previously found attributes of the
relationship between age and degree of hearing loss on early language use of children who are
DHH.
Key words: Deaf, hard of hearing, Language Use Inventory, pragmatic language, theory of mind. |