This study aimed to investigate the role of hearing aid (HA) usage in language outcomes among preschool children aged 3-5 years with mild bilateral hearing loss (MBHL). The data were retrieved from a total of 52 children with MBHL and 30 children with normal hearing (NH). The association between demographical, audiological factors and language outcomes was examined. Analyses of variance were conducted to compare the language abilities of HA users, non-HA users, and their NH peers. Furthermore, regression analyses were performed to identify significant predictors of language outcomes. Aided better ear pure-tone average (BEPTA) was significantly correlated with language comprehension scores. Among children with MBHL, those who used HA outperformed the ones who did not use HA across all linguistic domains. The language skills of children with MBHL were comparable to those of their peers with NH. The degree of improvement in audibility in terms of aided BEPTA was a significant predictor of language comprehension. It is noteworthy that 50% of the parents expressed reluctance regarding HA use for their children with MBHL. The findings highlight the positive impact of HA usage on language development in this population. Professionals may therefore consider HAs as a viable treatment option for children with MBHL, especially when there is a potential risk of language delay due to hearing loss. It was observed that 25% of the children with MBHL had late-onset hearing loss. Consequently, the implementation of preschool screening or a listening performance checklist is recommended to facilitate early detection.

We describe the language ability of children at age 9.5 years who were born to women with an opioid use disorder and examine the associations between prenatal opioid exposure, sex, social adversity, caregiver psychological factors, and child language. Data were drawn from the regional prospective longitudinal Canterbury Methadone in Pregnancy study. At the 9.5-year wave, 80 children who were born to mothers in Methadone Maintenance Treatment and their caregivers, and 98 non-exposed comparison children were assessed using a comprehensive standardized measure of language. Information related to social adversity and caregiver psychological factors was obtained from comprehensive caregiver interviews. At age 9.5 years, opioid-exposed children had lower language scores than the non-exposed children, however their group average was within the normal range on the CELF-4 norms. A series of multivariate hierarchical regression models predicting low language at 9.5 years showed sex and opioid-exposure status predicted low language in the first step. The addition of social adversity factors significantly improved the model. The further addition of caregiver psychological factors did not improve prediction. Only sex was a significant predictor throughout. In this sample, children prenatally exposed to opioids were at higher risk of low language outcomes. However, the child being male and social adversity were important influencing factors. This suggests early language support services are indicated for opioid-exposed children, particularly boys and those in socially adverse circumstances.

UNASSIGNED: We aimed to describe the language and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes of children early-identified with unilateral or mild bilateral permanent hearing loss. This was a cross-sectional community-based study of children with mild bilateral or unilateral permanent hearing loss (including unilateral auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD)), drawn from a population-based databank in Victoria, Australia.
UNASSIGNED: Enrolment in this databank is independent of early intervention and amplification approaches. Language and caregiver-reported HRQoL outcomes are described by type and degree of loss at three timepoints across child development: at age 2 years (n = 255), 5-7 years (n = 173) and 9-12 years (n = 45).
UNASSIGNED: Across all age groups, average language outcomes were poorer than population normative scores by between a half to two thirds of a standard deviation. Children with mild bilateral hearing loss demonstrated poorer average language outcomes than children with unilateral hearing loss, particularly at younger ages. Children with unilateral ANSD showed language outcomes comparable to their peers with unilateral profound hearing loss. Children had poorer HRQoL psychosocial scores compared to physical scores, without obvious patterns of outcomes linked to degree or type of hearing loss.
UNASSIGNED: This study demonstrates children with early-identified unilateral or mild bilateral hearing loss have average language and HRQoL outcomes poorer than population normative expectations from an early age. These outcomes are observed at later ages across childhood. These findings provide a contemporary description of language and quality of life outcomes for children identified but not targeted by universal newborn hearing screening and raise questions of how to provide better support for these populations of children and their families.

The statistical account of language acquisition asserts that language is learned through computations on the statistical regularities present in natural languages. This type of account can predict variability in language development measures as arising from individual differences in extracting this statistical information. Given that statistical learning has been attested across different domains and modalities, a central question is which modality is more tightly yoked with language skills. The results of a scoping review, which aimed for the first time at identifying the evidence of the association between statistical learning skills and language outcomes in typically developing infants and children, provide preliminary support for the statistical learning account of language acquisition, mostly in the domain of lexical outcomes, indicating that typically developing infants and children with stronger auditory and audio-visual statistical learning skills perform better on lexical competence tasks. The results also suggest that the relevance of statistical learning skills for language development is dependent on sensory modality.

Many infants and children around the world grow up exposed to two or more languages. Their success in learning each of their languages is a direct consequence of the quantity and quality of their everyday language experience, including at home, in daycare and preschools, and in the broader community context. Here, we discuss how research on early language learning can inform policies that promote successful bilingual development across the varied contexts in which infants and children live and learn. Throughout our discussions, we highlight that each individual child\'s experience is unique. In fact, it seems that there are as many ways to grow up bilingual as there are bilingual children. To promote successful bilingual development, we need policies that acknowledge this variability and support frequent exposure to high-quality experience in each of a child\'s languages.

Many individual factors, such as early communicative skills, could play a role in explaining later linguistic outcomes. The detection of predictive variables is fundamental to identifying early the children who need intervention. The present study focuses on children with sex chromosome trisomies (SCTs), genetic conditions with an increased risk of developing language delays or impairments. The aims are to analyse their communicative skills at 18 months of age, and identify significant predictors of their later vocabulary size. Participants were 76 18-month-old children (38 with SCTs, and 38 typically-developing (TD) children). Their communicative skills were assessed during a parent-child play session, and parents filled in a report on their vocabulary development at 18 and 24 months. Children with SCTs showed significantly poorer linguistic skills at 18 months in both preverbal (babbling and gestures) and verbal abilities. A high percentage (nearly 70%) of toddlers with SCTs were late-talking children at 24 months, and those toddlers showed a lower frequency of babbling utterances at 18 months. Early lexical skills, children\'s developmental quotient, and being part of the group of toddlers with SCTs were significant predictors of children\'s vocabulary size six months later. These variables should be considered when assessing the linguistic competence of a child with SCTs to detect possible early risk factors of future language impairment.

BACKGROUND: A primary goal of early intervention is to assist children in achieving age-appropriate language skills. The amount of intervention a child receives is ideally based on his or her individual needs, yet it is unclear if language ability impacts amount of intervention and/or if an increased frequency of intervention sessions results in better outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the frequency of early intervention sessions and vocabulary outcomes in young children with hearing loss.
METHODS: This was a longitudinal study of 210 children 9 to 36 months of age with bilateral hearing loss living in 12 different states. Expressive vocabulary skills were evaluated using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories.
RESULTS: A higher number of intervention sessions reported at the first assessment predicted better vocabulary scores at the second assessment, and more sessions reported at the second assessment predicted better scores at the third assessment. For each increase in the number of sessions reported, there was a corresponding, positive increase in vocabulary quotient. In contrast, children\'s vocabulary ability at an earlier time point did not predict intervention session frequency at a later point in time.
CONCLUSIONS: A significant prospective effect was apparent with more therapy sessions resulting in improved vocabulary scores 9 months later. These findings underscore the importance of early intervention. Pediatricians and other health care professionals can help apply these findings by counseling parents regarding the value of frequent and consistent participation in early intervention.

UNASSIGNED: Following the COVID-19 pandemic, majority of paediatric cochlear implantees (CI) lost follow ups for rehabilitation and tele-therapy was initiated. Present study thus compared the outcome measures of paediatric CI users on tele-therapy versus conventional face to face therapy following COVID-19 pandemic.
UNASSIGNED: Twenty seven unilateral paediatric cochlear implantees in the age range of 2-11 years were divided into two groups based on the therapy modality, viz, tele- andface-to-face therapy. Based on the hearing age, participants were further divided into three groups, viz, 0-2, 2-4, and greater than four years. A complete the test battery comprising Integrated Scales of Development, Speech Intelligibility Rating scale, and Revised Categorical Auditory Perceptionwere administered. The speech & language test battery was performed prior to initiating the rehabilitation and post 12 months of rehabilitation.
UNASSIGNED: Results of the present study revealed that conventional rehabilitation had better outcomes compared to teletherapy. The rate of progress after one year of rehabilitation with respect to hearing-age showed a significant difference for the hearing-age group of 0-2 years across the domains of audition, speech and language.
UNASSIGNED: The present study indicates that conventional method of the speech-language and auditory rehabilitation is far better compared to the tele rehabilitation services especially for those visiting tertiary care hospitals as most of them belong to lower and middle socioeconomic status. From the results, it can be delineated that with lesser hearing experience, paediatric CI users always need to initially enroll for conventional therapy for better speech-language and auditory outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: In this paper we draw on evidence to address the impact of earlier identification of congenital hearing loss through universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) and the associated earlier access to interventions including cochlear implant technology on outcomes of children with hearing loss.
METHODS: Data from the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI) study were analyzed to examine the impact of UNHS and earlier intervention on language outcomes. The LOCHI study includes more than 450 deaf and hard of hearing Australian children whose hearing losses were identified variously through newborn hearing screening or later paths to confirmation and intervention.
RESULTS: Seventy-two percent of the screened group received hearing aid fitting before 6 months of age, which more than doubled the 32% in the non-screened group. On average, children who received earlier intervention achieved language at age 5 years commensurate with their typically developing peers. Children who do not have disabilities in addition to hearing loss and received their first cochlear implants before age 12 months achieved language scores within the range of typically developing peers.
CONCLUSIONS: Newborn hearing screening led to earlier intervention. Children who received earlier intervention achieved better outcomes than those who received later intervention.

Background: Post-stroke aphasia is a chronic condition that impacts people\'s daily functioning and communication for many years after a stroke. Even though these individuals require sustained rehabilitation, they face extra burdens to access care due to shortages in qualified clinicians, insurance limitations and geographic access. There is a need to research alternative means to access intervention remotely, such as in the case of this study using a digital therapeutic. Objective: To assess the feasibility and clinical efficacy of a virtual speech, language, and cognitive digital therapeutic for individuals with post-stroke aphasia relative to standard of care. Methods: Thirty two participants completed the study (experimental: average age 59.8 years, 7 female, 10 male, average education: 15.8 years, time post-stroke: 53 months, 15 right handed, 2 left handed; control: average age 64.2 years, 7 female, 8 male, average education: 15.3 years, time post-stroke: 36.1 months, 14 right handed, 1 left handed). Patients in the experimental group received 10 weeks of treatment using a digital therapeutic, Constant Therapy-Research (CT-R), for speech, language, and cognitive therapy, which provides evidence-based, targeted therapy with immediate feedback for users that adjusts therapy difficulty based on their performance. Patients in the control group completed standard of care (SOC) speech-language pathology workbook pages. Results: This study provides Class II evidence that with the starting baseline WAB-AQ score, adjusted by -0.69 for every year of age, and by 0.122 for every month since stroke, participants in the CT-R group had WAB-AQ scores 6.43 higher than the workbook group at the end of treatment. Additionally, secondary outcome measures included the WAB-Language Quotient, WAB-Cognitive Quotient, Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone (BTACT), and Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale 39 (SAQOL-39), with significant changes in BTACT verbal fluency subtest and the SAQOL-39 communication and energy scores for both groups. Conclusions: Overall, this study demonstrates the feasibility of a fully virtual trial for patients with post-stroke aphasia, especially given the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, as well as a safe, tolerable, and efficacious digital therapeutic for language/cognitive rehabilitation. Clinical Trial Registration: www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT04488029.