Improving communication in children with unilateral to profound hearing impairment with a cochlear implant

Invited Every year, neonatal hearing screening services in Flanders (Belgium) detect single sided hearing loss in approximately 60 neonates, of whom about 16 have a profound sensorineural hearing loss, also called single sided deafness (SSD). As these children have no binaural hearing, they often will experience difficulties with localization of sounds and with speech intelligibility in noisy situations. Furthermore, an increasing body of research suggests that single sided hearing loss is a risk factor for speech-language delays. A cochlear implant (CI) on the deaf side has the potential to restore binaural hearing. For congenital SSD, recently positive results have been reported for two children implanted early in life, but not for four children implanted at an older age. It is likely that early implantation is critical for bilateral auditory development. We currently report on data of 7 infants with SSD who received their CI before the age of 2.5 yrs and are tested with age-appropriate materials at regular intervals. We compare behavioral and questionnaire data of these children to those of matched normal hearing peers and matched children with SSD without a CI. The children are assessed with regard to their receptive and expressive language skills (Bayley-III language subscales or the Schlichting Language Tests), their cognitive abilities (Bayley-III cognitive subscale or WPPSI-III) and when old enough their ability to localize sounds and speech in noise understanding. Also, their language environment is studied (LENA system) and parents are asked to complete questionnaires on auditory behavior (Littlears and/or PEACH+), language development (N-CDI) and social-emotional and adaptive behavior (Bayley-III questionnaires or Vineland Screener). Results of the first testing sessions, 2 months pre implantation and 4(/10/16/22) months post implantation, will be presented at the conference.Invitedstatus: publishe