In order for the mentally retarded population to achieve maximum benefit from rehabilitation efforts, it is essential that a complete picture of their abilities and disabilities be obtained. Consequently, the identification of hearing loss is an integral element in any diagnostic procedure. Vancouver School District 37 has directed increased attention toward speech and language training for children in the special education classrooms for the mentally retarded; however, differential hearing diagnosis has been inadequate or totally lacking. In order to more efficiently treat this problem, it was felt that a comprehensive investigation into the incidence and types of hearing loss of this population would provide a basis for program design. To adequately survey the previous investigations in the literature it was advantageous to divide them into categories according to likeness of criteria used in defining "hearing loss." In this survey, a heterogeneous sample of 212 retarded subjects ranging in age from 6 years, 8 months to 19 years, 9 months was audiometrically tested at four frequencies: 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, and 4000 Hz. The retarded subjects encompassed MI levels I through IV on the c1assification system developed by the American Association on Mental Deficiency. Tests were administered at eight locations within the Vancouver School District 37 which offered adequate test environments. The criterion for hearing loss in this survey was a loss of 20 dB or more in two or more frequencies in either ear. The audiometric procedure used in both air and bone-conduction testing was the revised technique of Newhart and Reger (1945, revised 1956). Operant procedures were designed after Stewart (1970). Two examiners were used, and ten test scores of each correlated at approximately .93 using the Pearson Product- Moment Correlation. Thirty-eight of the 212 subjects had hearing losses of 20 dB or more in two or more frequencies in either ear. This number established an incidence of 17. 9 per cent for this population. The present data indicate, in general, that the incidence of hearing loss is greater among the more severely retarded than among the less retarded. The audiometric data depict a general trend toward a decrease in hearing loss incidence with increasing .age. Of those with hearing loss, slightly more males (53 per cent) than females (47 per cent) were represented. The pattern established by the current survey revealed a concentration of conductive losses at lower age levels and a concentration of sensori-neural losses at the higher age levels. The special education classrooms of Vancouver School District 37 reveal a three to six times greater incidence of hearing loss than among the normal classrooms of the district. The concentration of conductive losses at lower age levels leads to a recommendation that hearing levels be screened each year up to age 12.

Recent investigation has focused on the nature of adult-child verbal interactions. The research has examined the language of mothers and other adults when assembled with both normal and retarded children. The present study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that mothers of children with Down's Syndrome and mothers of normal children would present different language characteristics to a Down's Syndrome child versus a normal child. Type-token ratio, a measure of the subject's language diversification, was used as the behavioral measure. The findings indicated that all mothers presented smaller type token ratios to the Down's Syndrome child than those addressed to the normal child. The results were statistically significant at the .0005 level of confidence on a one-tailed test. No significant differences in type-token ratio were found between groups of mothers of Down's Syndrome children and mothers of normal children in speeches addressed to the Down's Syndrome child or to the normal child. Both groups of mothers modified their language similarly to each child.

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