Predicting reading ability in teenagers who are deaf or hard of hearing: A longitudinal analysis of language and reading.

Mae Simcoe et al. (2018) followed teens who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) and use spoken language.

They looked at language scores taken around age 8 and then checked reading skills nine years later.

The team wanted to see if early language could predict later reading comprehension and accuracy.

Stronger language at age 8 forecast better reading comprehension at 17.

The link was clear for understanding stories, but early language did not predict how accurately teens read words aloud.

In plain numbers, language scores explained about one-sixth of the later comprehension difference.

Adi-Japha et al. (2011) also tracked language-impaired kids and showed that early language delays slow motor learning at first, yet kids catch up with extra practice. Both studies warn: early language gaps linger without steady support.

Vassos et al. (2023) looks like a contradiction. They gave dyslexic teens 15 game-based Spanish lessons and saw big reading gains, while Sarah’s DHH teens showed only modest prediction, not big change. The gap makes sense: M’s teens got an active intervention; Sarah’s teens were only measured, not treated.

Saalasti et al. (2008) rounds out the picture. They found that children with Asperger syndrome score low on receptive language even when they talk well. Together these papers tell us: test comprehension in every clinical group, not just expressive skills.

If you work with DHH students who use speech, keep language goals on the IEP through middle and high school. A strong eight-year-old talker can still struggle with textbook language at 17. Build advanced vocabulary, complex syntax, and story-grammar instruction into social studies and science classes. Check comprehension with questions that go beyond literal facts so the language-reading link stays strong.