Reading abilities of adolescents with cochlear implants: the role of early speech perception in a longitudinal study

To examine reading skills of adolescents who use cochlear implants (CIs) and who were implanted early. Three questions are asked: (1) Do these pediatric CI recipients read at age-appropriate levels at adolescence, as they had done at elementary-ages (Grantham et al. [2022]. Effects of segmental and suprasegmental speech perception on reading in pediatric cochlear implant recipients. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 65(9), 3583-3594. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00035 )? (2) Are the previously documented effects of early segmental and suprasegmental speech perception on elementary-age reading skills obtained for adolescent reading skills? (3) Do the effects on adolescent reading differ for early speech perception versus elementary-age speech perception?

Eighty-six orally educated children with a mean age of CI of 2 years completed a standardized reading comprehension test at elementary ages (7-11 years) and at adolescent ages (11-16 years). They completed speech perception tests when they were 5-9 years old (early) and again at 7-11 years of age (elementary-age). Reading comprehension scores from elementary and adolescent ages were compared, and the effects of early and elementary-age speech perception on adolescent reading were examined.

The mean reading passage comprehension standard score was within the normative range for typically hearing age-mates at both elementary-age and adolescent testing. Early suprasegmental speech perception was the only significant speech perception predictor of adolescent reading skills, after controlling for demographic and audiological variables.

These data bolster the recent literature reporting good reading skills, on average, for children who received early CIs and highlight the long-term benefits of good early suprasegmental speech perception skills. Both segmental and suprasegmental perception should be included in audiological candidacy criteria and educational intervention for children with CIs.