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Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
Pre-lingually deaf children can perform as well as post-lingually deaf adults using cochlear implants.
R S Tyler1, J T Rubinstein, H Teagle
1Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, and Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1078, USA. rich-tyler@uiowa.edu
Cochlear Implants International
|September 16, 2008
Summary
Pre-lingually deaf children using cochlear implants can achieve speech recognition scores comparable to post-lingually deaf adults. This study suggests their auditory systems are sufficient for high-level auditory learning.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Neuroscience
- Pediatric Medicine
Background:
- Cochlear implants benefit both pre-lingually deaf children and post-lingually deaf adults.
- Post-lingually deaf adults possess speech sound memory, unlike pre-lingually deaf children.
- Previous research has not extensively compared speech recognition abilities between these groups.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if pre-lingually deaf children can achieve high sentence recognition scores comparable to post-lingually deaf adults.
- To assess the auditory system's capacity for speech recognition in pre-lingually deaf children post-implantation.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving 21 pre-lingually deaf children and 81 post-lingually deaf adults.
- All participants used multichannel cochlear implants.
- Sentence recognition testing was administered to both groups.
Main Results:
- Pre-lingually deaf children's scores ranged from 0 to 97%, with approximately 50% scoring above 70%.
- Post-lingually deaf adults' scores ranged from 0 to 100%, with approximately 50% scoring above 60%.
- A significant number of children achieved scores equal to or exceeding those of the adults.
Conclusions:
- The auditory system in pre-lingually deaf children is capable of achieving high levels of speech recognition.
- Pre-lingually deaf children can attain speech recognition abilities similar to post-lingually deaf adults.
- Cochlear implantation is effective for developing speech recognition in early-onset deafness.