Background and Aim: listening, speaking, reading and writing are considered the lingual skills. These skills are in direct relation with each other. Listening is the first skill learnt by the individual through development. If damaged by hearing impairment, listening can cause serious defect to lingual skills. The goal of our research was to study the effect of hearing loss on reading literacy in hearing impairment students in comparison with normal hearing students.
Methods: Study was performed using the examination booklets of Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2001. 119 hearing impairment students of 4^th grade primary school, last year guidance school, and last year high school levels in schools providing exceptional student education were included. These individuals were compared to 46 normal hearing students of 4^th grade primary school of ordinary schools. Comparative statistical analysis was performed using t-test.
Results: Reading literacy and literal contents understanding was shown to have a significant difference between normal hearing and whole hearing impaired student (p<0.05), except the ones in high school level with moderate hearing loss. There was also seen a significant difference between normal hearing and hearing impairment students in understanding of information contents (p=0.03).
Conclusion: Hearing loss has a negative effect on reading literacy. Consequently, curriculum change and evolution of educational programs in exceptional centers is needed, in order to promote reading literacy and to enhance rest hearing

Background and Aim: Reading skills, a complicated process, should be learnt and solely is not depend on sounds conforming with the written symbols on a page. Readers will be able to understand and perceive the deeper meaning of the text based on their experiences and knowledge obtained through reading. This research aimed to compare hearing-impaired students&apos reading literacy in exceptional and ordinary schools in Iran.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 28 hearing-impaired students of the 4^th year of primary exceptional and ordinary schools of Shahr-e-Ray and Shahryar cities, Iran, using the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2006) booklets. Comparative statistical analysis was performed using Student&aposs t-test.
Results: The hearing-impaired students in ordinary schools had significantly (p<0.05) higher scores [mean (SD)] in reading literacy [3.67 (1.74)], comprehension of informational contents [4.21 (2.48)], and comprehension of literary contents [3.14(1.23)] than hearing-impaired students in exceptional schools [1.78 (1.06), 1.92 (1.49), and 1.64 (1.62), respectively].
Conclusion: Hearing-impaired students in ordinary schools meaningfully had higher performance of reading skills in comparison with hearing-impaired students in exceptional schools. It seems that an appropriate cultural bed should be provided in order to conduct these students and accept them in ordinary schools.