REICE. Revista Iberoamericana sobre Calidad, Eficacia y Cambio en Educación

The present study sought to know emotional aspects of children with hearing difficulties and to check their influence on language development from the perspective of the children themselves, their parents and their teachers of Gran Canaria and Tenerife islands. We analyzed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) administered to 300 children who used cochlear implants or hearing aids compared to the perceptions of their families and teachers in the same questionnaire. In addition, a regression analysis was applied to know if the results in the SDQ influence those obtained by the children in the Illinois Psycholinguistic Aptitude Test (ITPA). The findings showed that the assessment of the emotional dimensions of the children in terms of strengths and weaknesses were judged differently in the three groups of informants studied, the scale being the most difficult emotional issue. Both evaluative instruments were correlated and a linear regression analysis that the score linked to the measurement of the emotional aspects predicts the results in the different dimensions of ITPA. The findings of this study are relevant for the design of educational programs in the field of communication and language of children.