The development of early numeracy in deaf and hard of hearing children acquiring spoken language

Most deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children are born to hearing parents and steered toward spoken rather than signed language, introducing a delay in language access. This study investigated the effects of this delay on number acquisition. DHH children (N = 44, mean_age  = 58 months, 21F, >50% White) and typically-hearing (TH) children (N = 79, mean_age  = 49 months, 51F, >50% White) were assessed on number and language in 2011-13. DHH children showed similar trajectories to TH children but delayed timing; a binary logistic regression showed that the odds of being a cardinal-principle (CP) knower were 17 times higher for TH children than DHH children, controlling for age (d = .69). Language fully mediated the association between deaf/hearing group and number knowledge, suggesting that language access sets the pace for number acquisition.