This study explores the relationship between language skills (vocabulary knowledge and phonological awareness), nonverbal cognitive processes (attention, memory and executive functions) and reading comprehension in deaf children. Thirty prelingually deaf children (10.7 ± 1.6 years old; 18 boys, 12 girls), classified as either good or bad readers based on their scores in two reading comprehension tasks, were administered a rhyme judgment task and seven computerized neuropsychological tasks specifically designed and adapted for deaf children to evaluate vocabulary knowledge, attention, memory and executive functions in deaf children. The association between variables was evaluated through a correlational approach. Although the two groups did not show differences in phonological awareness, good readers displayed better vocabulary and performed significantly better than poor ones on attention, memory and executive functions measures. Moreover, significant correlations were found between better scores in reading comprehension and better scores on tasks of vocabulary and non-verbal cognitive processes. Our results suggest that in deaf children, vocabulary knowledge and nonverbal cognitive processes, such as selective attention, visuo-spatial memory, abstract reasoning and sequential processing may be especially relevant for the development of reading comprehension.