The Ears of the Deaf Unstopped: Changes Associated with Cochlear Implantation

Abstract

The Center for Applied Research on Childhood Deafness at Central Institute for the Deaf (St. Louis, MO) has been collecting data on the speech perception, speech production, language level, and reading skills of profoundly deaf children for over 30 years. A recent study examined children from across the United States and Canada who used cochlear implants. When these results are compared with those obtained in past studies with similar children who used hearing aids, the following trends are apparent: (1) Auditory speech perception ability has improved; (2) there is a stronger relation between auditory speech perception ability and oral communication; (3) there is a closer approximation to the language of hearing age-mates; (4) there is an increased use of speech by children in total communication programs; and (5) the acquisition of reading is accelerated. As Ira Hirsh predicted, even limited auditory skills play an important role in language development. This role is evidenced in the improved speech perception, spoken language and reading scores of profoundly deaf children who used cochlear implants compared to similarly impaired children who used hearing aids before implants were available.