Speech Intelligibility in Children with Cochlear Implants—A Listener’s Perspective

Abstract

The present study quantifies speech intelligibility of children using cochlear implant (CI) in the listener’s perspectives. The aim of the present study was to compare the speech intelligibility rating (SIR) obtained by CI individuals in three different tasks—words, sentences and conversation—and to compare speech intelligibility of CI users rated by three groups of listeners (speech-language pathologists [SLPs], parents of children with CI and laypersons). Six Tamil speaking children between 5–10 years using CIs for three years were recruited for the present study. Speech samples collected included three tasks; general conversation, repeating words and sentences. The collected samples were analysed by three different groups of listeners for intelligibility in terms of Percentage of Consonant Correct (PCC) and using intelligibility rating scales. The intelligibility scores improved with age and experiences of CI usage. Based on the listener’s perspective, the scores were less when analysed by a layperson as compared to the other two groups of listeners. This finding could be attributed to the previous listening experience of SLPs, and parents of children with CI. Keywords: Speech intelligibility, cochlear implant (CI), percentage of consonants correct (PCC), intelligibility rating scale, a speech-language pathologist (SLP) Cite this Article Prianka Evangeline F., Jennifer R., Sowmiya G., Jasmine Lydia S. Speech Intelligibility in Children with Cochlear Implants—A Listener’s Perspective. Research & Reviews: A Journal of Bioinformatics . 2019; 6(2): 26–30p.