The objective of this contract is to conduct a study to determine the prevalence at six year of age of speech, language and hearing impairments for very low birth weight (VLBW) children. Young children from a well- defined population-based cohort of VLBW (less than or equal to 1500 grams), moderately low birth weight (MLBW) (1500-2499 grams), and normal birth weight (NBW) (granter than or equal to 2500 grams) will be examined to evaluate the effect of birth weight on: 1) hearing sensitivity and middle-ear function; 2) central auditory processing; 3) speech and language development; 4) nonverbal performance measures; and 5) health and medical history.
