Visual sequential processing and language ability in children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

The sample was small and came from specific schools, with DHH children from oral spoken-language settings and TH children from a parochial school, so it may not represent all children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The DHH group included a broad age range, and the study did not compare them with hearing children matched for language age, so age and language differences are hard to separate. Six DHH children were reported to have ADHD, and the authors note this could have influenced group differences, although no significant ADHD subgroup differences were found. The study measured children once and did not test an intervention, so it cannot show that visual sequencing problems cause vocabulary delays or that sequence training improves language. The tasks did not directly require verbal naming, so the difference between color and black-square tasks may reflect other stimulus features rather than nameability. The study did not include socioeconomic status, sign-language exposure, or detailed age of first amplification, all of which could affect language and sequencing performance.

Funding: Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural. No author conflict-of-interest declaration is present in the supplied text.

Do not conclude that practicing visual color sequences will improve vocabulary. This was a comparison study, not a treatment trial, and the authors state the direction of the relationship is unclear.