Children with hearing loss have limited auditory access to their native language and struggle to develop appropriate language skills. These children consistently demonstrate less complex oral language output, smaller vocabulary inventories, and delays in overall communicative proficiency. With the extensive implications hearing loss has on language development, a child with hearing loss requires immediate access to appropriate and effective intervention to address deficits and curb long-term language delays. However, there is a paucity of research investigating the effects of various language intervention programs with children with hearing loss. Much of the existing research focuses on the consequences of a selected language modality or lacks the rigor needed to produce conclusive evidence. While it has not been extensively investigated with children with hearing loss, narrative language intervention has been effective at improving a number of language skills of children with a variety of disabilities and language needs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of narrative language intervention on the narrative retelling skills and vocabulary use of children with hearing loss. To do so, a multiple baseline research design and a repeated acquisition research design were implemented. Participants included two children ages 5 and 9 diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and fitted to an amplification device. Each child received weekly, individualized narrative language intervention with a focus on use of target vocabulary words. Both participants demonstrated weekly increases in narrative retell scores and repeated pre-test to post-test gains in the use of targeted vocabulary. Results suggest narrative language intervention improved the narrative retell ability and vocabulary use of children with hearing loss.

Cryptorchidism is a male congenital disorder with an unspecified, multifactorial etiology. This review evaluated the strength of select factors in the development of cryptorchidism to better understand its etiology. The strength of relationship between factors and their respective functions during testicular descent was evaluated. Factors evaluated in the causal pathway include the signaling mechanisms Desert Hedgehog (DHH), Insulin-like Hormone 3 (INSL3) and Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF), as well as sex hormone regulation (androgen: estrogen ratio, aromatase expression). Articles supporting a factor in testicular descent were evaluated and scored. These scores were summed to create the “Step Score” for each step in the causal pathway. An arrow system was developed which ranked the strength of each pathway step as either “weak”, “moderate” or “strong”. Thus, step scores and the strength of factors in the pathological pathway were determined: DHH (15-moderate), PDGF (10-weak), INSL3 (24-strong) and Androgen: Estrogen ratio, Aromatase (23-strong). The pathological pathway produced by this review represents a literature based perspective of the research regarding cryptorchidism etiology. Literature indicates that prenatal exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals in animals and humans may lead to abnormal genital development. Recently, prenatal maternal cigarette smoke was demonstrated to be a risk factor for cryptorchidism. This controversial finding was explored in the context of endocrine disrupting chemicals. However, literature has provided very little evidence in support of this hypothesis and more research is needed to better evaluate prenatal maternal smoking as a risk factor for undescended testis.

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Many attempts have been made to determine what factors are most important in one’s potential for learning to read. These have been investigated for the purpose of determining effective instructional procedures. This chapter on literacy development aims to problematize instructional approaches that emphasize children’s deficits and, instead, make more visible approaches that build on children’s strengths, regardless of their individual differences. A fundamental belief must be that literacy is teachable and, for all children, learnable. This chapter will delineate those aspects of literacy that are malleable, evidenced by case studies and research review, and will suggest pathways (i.e., skills, strategies, and procedures) that are most effective for teachers and researchers to pursue. It describes connections to the broad field of deafness and literacy development and implications for teachers, administrators, service providers, and others concerned with the literacy success of deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

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