Hemispheric specialization in hearing impaired children who use cued speech

Abstract

Hemispheric specialization for language processing is demonstrated as a left hemispheric function for most normal hearing right-handed subjects. Hearing impaired subjects, however, do not demonstrate a predictable hemispheric specialization for language processing. This research used a matched letter pair stimulus presented tachistoscopically to four male and four female right-handed, profoundly deaf children who use cued speech to communicate. Analysis of the test data shows a small significant trend towards left hemispheric specialization for language processing. A case-by-case review reveals that four subjects demonstrated left hemispheric specialization for language processing, two subjects demonstrated right hemispheric superiority for language processing, and two subjects did not demonstrate superiority for language processing in either hemisphere. A larger sample size would be required to determine if the cued speech subjects develop hemispheric specialization the way normal hearing subjects do or whether they develop the inconsistent pattern of specialization of other deaf subjects.