Consonant Acquisition in Young Cochlear Implant Recipients and Their Typically Developing Peers

Consonant acquisition was examined in 13 young cochlear implant (CI) recipients and 11 typically developing (TD) children.

A longitudinal research design was implemented to determine the rate and nature of consonant acquisition during the first 2 years of robust hearing experience. Twenty-minute adult-child (typically a parent) interactions were video and audio recorded at 3-month intervals following implantation until 24 months of robust hearing experience was achieved. TD children were similarly recorded between 6 and 24 months of age. Consonants that were produced twice within a 50-utterance sample were considered "established" within a child's consonant inventory.

Although the groups showed similar trajectories, the CI group produced larger consonant inventories than the TD group at each interval except for 21 and 24 months. A majority of children with CIs also showed more rapid acquisition of consonants and more diverse consonant inventories than TD children.

These results suggest that early auditory deprivation does not significantly affect consonant acquisition for most CI recipients. Tracking early consonant development appears to be a useful way to assess the effectiveness of cochlear implantation in young recipients.