Considerations in the education of children with hearing loss.

It is crucial to the development of speech, language, academic, social, and vocational skills that children with a hearing loss be identified as early as possible with an intervention plan developed that encourages family inclusion and participation. Research indicates that early intervention is key to speech intelligibility and the development of age-appropriate language skills. Bess and colleagues found that without appropriate intervention, children with minimal hearing loss experience significant academic delay and social-emotional problems by the third grade. Because most children with an educationally significant hearing loss are in the mainstream of regular education, the best hope for true integration and inclusion is to implement a proactive management plan that prevents failure with its lifelong consequences.