Auditory Specialization in Deaf Children: Aural and Cognitive Interactions

Hemispheric specialization in the brain has become a focus of study in recent years in an effort to better understand language acquisition and use in deaf children. To test the hypothesis that better-ear hearing acuity in severely hearing-impaired children will interact differentially with cognitive performance because of hemispheric influence, 27 children with bilateral, severe to profound hearing loss were divided into two comparison groups and a control group and were given a series of cognitive tasks of increasing difficulty. The authors conclude that hemispheric interactions may take place and affect cognitive performance in ways predictable from hemispheric-specialization theory and hearing ability. We offer suggestions for the focus of future research on this question.