Spoken Language Scores of Children Using Cochlear Implants Compared to Hearing Age-mates at School Entry

This study investigated three questions: Is it realistic to expect age-appropriate spoken language skills in children with cochlear implants (CIs) who received auditory–oral intervention during the preschool years? What characteris-tics predict successful spoken language development in this population? Are children with CIs more proficient in some areas of language than others? We analyzed language skills of 153 children with CIs as measured by standardized tests. These children (mean age 5 5 years and 10 months) attended programs in the United States (N 5 39) that used an auditory–oral educational approach. Age-appropriate scores were observed in 50 % of the children on measures of receptive vocabulary, 58 % on expressive vocabulary, 46% on verbal intelligence, 47 % on receptive language, and 39% on expressive language. Regression analysis indicated that, after controlling for the effects of nonverbal intelligence and parent education level, children who received their implants at young ages had higher scores on all language tests than children who were older at implantation. On average, chil-dren with CIs performed better on certain language mea-sures than others, indicating that some areas of language may be more difficult for these children to master than others. Implications for educators of deaf children with CIs are discussed. Before the advent of cochlear implants (CIs), children with profound hearing loss typically acquired language skills at about half the rate of hearing age-mate