DO INDIVIDUALS WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT EXHIBIT DEFICITS IN EXECUTIVE FUNCTION? A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
Executive function(EF) refers to high level goal directed behavior which encompasses strategic planning, flexibility of thought and action, inhibition of inappropriate responses and concurrent remembering and processing (Weyandt & Willis, 1994).Various components of executive functions are reported in the literature. A few of them being organization, planning, set shifting, working memory, impulse regulation etc. EF emerges in the first year of life and continues throughout early adulthood. The development of executive functioning during the preschool years is important for literacy. EF contributes to reading, writing, mathematics, social competency and learning in general. Children with hearing impairment demonstrates significant gaps in literacy acquisition (Sanders 2013). The learning difficulties of deaf children cannot be viewed as a consequence of sensory impairment alone (Luria, 1973). Prelingual deaf children experience a lag in auditory and visual language access. This will have an effect on the neural organization and the neurocognitive skills which rely on the sensory experiences and the language processing of spoken language (Pisoni et al, 2008).
Recent research attempts to study the EF ability in deaf children. Beer et al (2014) reported deficits in attention and inhibitory control in preschoolers with cochlear implant. A parent