Follow-up Study of Hearing-Impaired Children in Regular Classes

Abstract

This study attempts to investigate the relationship between early educational backgrounds and subsequent adaptive levels in regular classes of hearing-impaired children. We administered the WISC-R Intelligence Test and the standard audiological assessment to 36 hearing-impaired children integrated in regular classes of elementary and junior high school. At the same time, their early educational backgrounds and their adaptive levels in regular classes were surveyed. The results were as follows:
1) There was a positive correlation between the verbal IQ and the performance IQ in the WISC-R Test, on condition that the degree of hearing loss was similar.
2) The relationship between the degree of hearing loss and the verbal IQ was influenced by the performance IQ.
3) The hearing-impaired children whose education had started before the age of three were more competent in acquiring language ability and in adapting themselves to their school circumstances than the hearing-impaired children whose education had started after the age of three.
4) Some hearing-impaired children were able to adapt themselves to their educational setting in spite of their poor verbal ability and/or their profound hearing impairment. This result suggests that the effect of early education should be considered from different points of view.