Hearing assessment in pre-school children with speech delay

A great number of healthy pre-school children with speech delay were found to have normal hearing. In this case, the otolaryngologist should be aware of the possible underlying clinical entities, especially of psychiatric nature. The children with profound sensorineural hearing loss exhibited more severe speech delay than those with moderate to severe. Regardless of etiology, the early identification and intervention contribute to positive outcome in this critical period of childhood for language development.