This paper describes two studies of hearing-impaired children in which a modified measure of utterance length (MLVV), which included both verbal and non-verbal utterances, was used in conjunction with a number of other measures of child language. Faced with the task of assessing the early stages of the spontaneous language of hearing-impaired children, the two authors had devised and developed this measure independently. After both sets of data were complete, it was decided to examine the reliability of the measure and its ability to assess and describe stages in the development of verbal language in hearing-impaired children by examining and comparing the use of MLVV in both studies, and by investigating its relationship to a number of other language measures at different stages in children's development. Of interest is the usefulness of MLVV as an index of early communication development and its relationship to other aspects of language development.