Learning disability is the single most frequent complication of hearing impairment, occurring in up to 15% of all school-aged deaf children. Neuropsychological evaluations of these cases may contribute to further diagnosis of the additional handicaps and the identification of a suitable procedure for better intervention. A nine-year-old boy with mild hearing impairment was referred to our hospital because of his poor language development. His average pure tone audiometry was 35dBnHL in the right ear and 65 dBnHL in the left ear and audiological interventions with a hearing aid had already been started before the referral to our clinic. Although mild mental retardation was suggested by WISC-III, as FIQ65 (VIQ 65, VIQ71, and PIQ65), non-verbal intelligence examined by RCPM corresponded to the normal range. Verbal and non-verbal semantic disorder was considered by the results from ScTaw and SLTA. He was later diagnosed as having Asperger syndrome and his semantic problem concomitant with Asperger syndrome could be another cause of his additional language delay.
