Phoneme awareness, reading and early intervention in children with hearing impairments

Abstract

Although the possibilities of the correction of impaired hearing are growing and the age of the prescription of a hearing aid or a cochlear implantation is decreasing, we cannot conclude that these factors automatically optimise the development of communication skills and early literacy. Speech and language acquisition is a crucial indicator of school readiness. There are important research findings on the role of phonological skills in the reading of children with hearing loss. The possibilities of the stimulation of these skills are little known in our countries. This paper also provides information about the methods of phoneme awareness training of hearing-impaired children.

Keywords

• hearing impairment
• literacy
• reading
• phoneme awareness
• early intervention