CONTRIBUTIONS OF GESTURE TO THE LINGUISTIC OUTCOMES OF CHILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS

描述(由申请人提供)：本研究计划的主要目标是阐明听力损失儿童的手势和口语之间的关系。对于听力正常的儿童来说，手势的使用预示着以后的口语结果。此外，父母的手势使用和父母对幼儿手势的反应支持儿童的语言结果。对于听力受损的儿童来说，手势和口语之间的关系在很大程度上还没有被探索过。NIDCD的一个工作组确定了在这一人群中研究手势发展的必要性。这项纵向研究的目的是：1)确定听力损失幼儿的手势能力是否能预测他们后来口语能力的独特差异；2)确定母亲手势使用对听力损失幼儿语言结果的影响；3)确定母亲对手势的反应对听力损失幼儿口语结果的影响。这项工作将产生关于利用的价值的翻译结果 手势能力，以识别听力损失儿童谁是最有风险的困难 语言成就。研究结果还将对我们如何就最能支持孩子口语发展的沟通策略向父母提供建议产生重大影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overarching goal of this research program is to elucidate the relationships between gesture and spoken language for children with hearing loss. For children with normal hearing, gesture use is predictive of later spoken language outcomes. Additionally, parental gesture use and parental responses to toddlers' gestures support children's linguistic outcomes. For children with hearing loss, the relationships between gesture and spoken language have been largely unexplored. An NIDCD working group identified the need for research on gesture development with this population. The aims of this longitudinal study are to: 1) determine whether the gestural abilities of toddlers with hearing loss predict unique variance in their later spoken language abilities, 2) ascertain the effects of maternal gesture use on the linguistic outcomes of toddlers with hearing loss, and 3) establish the influence of maternal responsiveness to gesture on the spoken language outcomes of toddlers with hearing loss. This work will result in translational findings regarding the value of utilizing gesture abilities to identify toddlers with hearing loss who are most at-risk for difficulties with linguistic achievement. Findings will also have a significant impact on how we counsel parents regarding the communication strategies that will best support their children's spoken language development.