Before anything else, preparation is the key to success. - Alexander Graham Bell1

The issue editor for this issue of Topics in Language Disorders (TLD) is Barbara Arfe from the University of Padova in Italy. Arfe's research and publications (see her Issue Editor Foreword in this issue) have prepared her well to assemble an interdisciplinary and international group of authors to address the topic of "Literacy Achievements by Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in the New Era."

The reference to preparation in the introductory quotation by Alexander Graham Bell for this column is relevant to the current TLD issue for that reason and several others. First, the "new era" has brought new technologies with the potential to prepare the way for children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) to become more successful literate language users. In her article, Harris (2015) addresses questions about the degree to which improvements in reading outcomes can be associated with comprehensive newborn screening programs and improved hearing aid and cochlear implant technologies. Second, two of the articles address questions about the degree to which oral language proficiency is linked to preparing DHH children and adolescents to attain higher levels of literacy achievement. Arfe (2015) addresses the question with attention to the role played by verbal working memory in underpinning oral and written communication. My colleague and I (Nelson & Crumpton, 2015) present data comparing the oral and written profiles of DHH school-age children and adolescents on a new test of oral and written language. By comparing their performance with performance by students with learning disabilities, our goal was to shed light on unique and similar challenges associated with the two diagnostic groups and to consider implications for practice.

Another form of preparation is what DHH children of different ages need to comprehend what they read. Kyle and Cain (2015) describe differences and similarities in the reading comprehension profiles of deaf and hearing children. Sullivan and Oakhill (2015) address the practical question of how to support story comprehension in preparation for improved reading comprehension among novice readers.

These are different forms of preparation. They share promise to support better literacy outcomes for children who face hearing challenges. As the articles in this issue show, however, the results currently are mixed. Part of working to improve children's preparation to be strong and literate readers and writers involves understanding the current incomplete status in reaching that goal. This issue serves the important purpose of helping readers understand the objective evidence about current literacy achievements of DHH children. In addition, it offers concrete recommendations for steps to improve preparation for consistently better literacy outcomes for DHH children and adolescents.

-Nickola Wolf Nelson, PhD, CCC-SLP

Editor

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