FACTOR-ANALYSIS OF THE WISC-III WITH DEAF AND HARD-OF-HEARING CHILDREN

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III; D. Wechsler, 1991) was factor analyzed on a sample of 106 deaf and har d-of-hearing children, ages 6 to 16 years. Two factors emerged and wer e labeled Language Comprehension (I) and Visual-Spatial Organization ( v-s). There were no differences in Verbal, Performance, or Full Scale IQs between children attending mainstreamed vs. residential schools; c hildren who were administered the test through an interpreter or by an examiner who used sign language or the oral-only directions; children whose communication mode was oral, American Sign Language (ASL), or s igned English (SE); boys and girls; or children with moderate-to-sever e or profound hearing impairments. Children with known etiologies of h earing loss (i.e., meningitis, perinatal complications, rubella, cytom egaloviral inclusion, or genetic anomalies) earned significantly lower Performance IQs and Object Assembly scores than children with unknown etiologies. Implications and future directions for the intellectual a ssessment of deaf and hard-of-hearing children are discussed.