standard deviation = 9.5 months; from 36 to 69 months). Children who had neurological or cranio-facial abnormalities were
excluded. This study had prior approval from the Ethics Committee of the Institution (Hospital das Clı´nicas da Faculdade de
Medicina da Universidade de Sa˜o Paulo – no. 192/02) and informed consent was obtained from all parents. Table 1 provides
data on hearing loss and hearing aid use.
Subject data throughout this paper will be presented for 3 groups: normal hearing, severely deaf, and profoundly deaf