Objective: To examine the effects of early and late amplification on phonological development of children with moderate hearing impairment.
Methodology: This cross-sectional comparative study with purposive sampling was conducted at Army Special Education Academy and Sir Syed School & College, Rawalpindi from October, 2017 to April 2018. It included 100, 4-5 years old children of both genders using hearing aids with moderate hearing loss divided into early amplified & late amplified. Test for Articulation and Phonology in Urdu was used for data collection.
Results: Syllable structure process more frequently noted in late amplified compared to early amplified were Final Consonant Deletion (p=.005) and Initial Consonant Deletion (p=.826). Among substitution processes Fronting (p=0.013) persisted and was seen more commonly in the late amplified group. Also, harmony structure processes of Reduplication (p
Key words: Amplification, hearing impairment, phonological processes, speech sound disorders.
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