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Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent genetic disorders in humans. Locus and allelic heterogeneity cause fundamental challenges in hearing loss genetic diagnosis and management of patients and their families. This study examined the genetic profile of patients with prelingual hearing loss who were referred to the Genetic Foundation of Khorasan Razavi spanning over a decade. Deleterious variants in GJB2 were evaluated through Sanger sequencing among 745 non‐syndromic hearing loss patients. Furthermore, exome sequencing was applied in 250 patients with negative GJB2 sequencing results and 30 patients with syndromic hearing loss. The findings revealed a relatively low frequency of GJB2 variants among the studied patients. Exome sequencing successfully identified the genetic causes of hearing loss in 70% of the patients. Moreover, variants in 10 genes, namely SLC26A4, MYO15A, TMPRSS3, TMC1, OTOF, CDH23, PJVK, MYO7A, TECTA, and PCDH15, accounted for 66% of the positive exome sequencing findings in this study. At least three prevalent founder alleles in the hearing‐impaired population of eastern Iran were identified. This study emphasizes the efficiency of exome sequencing as a powerful tool for determining the etiology of prelingual hearing loss in the eastern Iranian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Grammatical skills development of hearing-impaired children depends on using appropriate educational rehabilitation programs. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of linguistic plays on the grammatical skills in hearing-impaired children with hearing aids. Methods: Ten hearing-impaired children with hearing aids, aged between 5 and 7, were randomly assigned to two groups (5 children in each group). Each treatment group received 12 sessions on linguistic plays. The grammatical skills of these children were evaluated via the TOLD-P: 3 (Persian version); in addition, their level of intelligence was assessed by the Raven test. Results: The difference between the scores of both control and treatment groups revealed a statistically significant difference in grammatical skills (t=7.61, p=0.001) and three subskills of the children who participated in the linguistic plays. These subskills include syntactic understanding (t=3.16, p=0.013), sentence imitation (t=1.71, p=0.006), and morphological completion (t=6.55, p=0.001). In other words, the findings suggest that linguistic plays have a significant impact on the improvement of the aforementioned skills in hearing-impaired children. Conclusion: Results suggest that it would be beneficial to include linguistic plays as part of routine rehabilitation programs as a means of improving the grammatical difficulties of children. After partaking in linguistic plays, children significantly improved their ability to comprehend the meaning of sentences and also to recognize, understand, and use common Persian morphological forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The present study seeks to describe and analyze the syntactic features of children with severely hearing loss who had access to the hearing aids compared with children with normal hearing, assigning them to the same separate gender classes. Materials and Methods: In the present study, eight children with severe hearing impairment who used a hearing aid and eight hearing children matched for age and gender were selected using an available sampling method based on the principles of auditory-verbal approach. Hearing children had an average age of 5.45 ±1.9 years and subjects had a mean age of 5.43±2.17 years and their rehabilitation had begun before they were 18 months old. The assessment instrument of the study included the language development test, TOLDP-3. The syntactic skills of these children were analyzed and compared with the hearing children of the same age based on gender. Results: There was a significant difference between the syntactic scores of the hearing-impaired children and the scores of the hearing children of the same age in the "sentence imitation" (t=-2/90, P<0/05) and "grammatical completion" (t=-3/39, P<0/05) subtests, with no significant difference in the "grammatical understanding" subtest (t=1/67, P>0/05). Moreover, there was no significant difference between male and female children with hearing impairment in terms of syntactic skills development. Conclusion: With early diagnosis and timely rehabilitating intervention, children with hearing loss can perform in a similar way to children of their age with normal hearing in some syntactical areas. Furthermore, the gender factor in the present study had no effect on the development of syntactical skills of children with hearing loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Hearing loss occurs when there is a problem with one or more parts of the ear or ears and causes children to have a delay in the language-learning process. Hearing loss affects children's lives and their development. Several approaches have been developed over recent decades to help hearing-impaired children develop language skills. Auditory-verbal therapy (AVT) is one such approach. Recently, researchers have found that music and play have a considerable effect on the communication skills of children, leading to the development of music therapy (MT) and play therapy (PT). There have been several studies which focus on the impact of music on hearing-impaired children. The aim of this article is to review studies conducted in AVT, MT, and PT and their efficacy in hearing-impaired children. Furthermore, the authors aim to introduce an integrated approach of AVT, MT, and PT which facilitates language and communication skills in hearing-impaired children. Materials and Methods: In this article we review studies of AVT, MT, and PT and their impact on hearing-impaired children. To achieve this goal, we searched databases and journals including Elsevier, Chor Teach, and Military Psychology, for example. We also used reliable websites such as American Choral Directors Association and Joint Committee on Infant Hearing websites. The websites were reviewed and key words in this article used to find appropriate references. Those articles which are related to ours in content were selected. Conclusion: VT, MT, and PT enhance children's communication and language skills from an early age. Each method has a meaningful impact on hearing loss, so by integrating them we have a comprehensive method in order to facilitate communication and language learning. To achieve this goal, the article offers methods and techniques to perform AVT and MT integrated with PT leading to an approach which offers all advantages of these three types of therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]