Language level after the language acquisition phase of unilaterally deafened children with cochlear implants

Introduction Children with unilateral deafness may experience delays in language development. Since language acquisition extends into primary school age, the language level of unilaterally deaf children (SSD) with cochlear implants (CI) in the age group 5 to 10 years will be examined and speech understanding with CI will be determined.

Methods The study group included 6 SSD children who were deaf between 0 and 6.5 years of age and treated with a CI between 3.5 and 7 years of age. One child has a dysplastic auditory nerve and 5 children have inconspicuous findings. The language level test for children aged between 5 and 10 years (SET 5 - 10) was conducted according to age groups. The audiological results were obtained with the Freiburg number and monosyllable test and the HSM sentence test in quiet and in background noise S/N 10dB in direct coupling.

Results In 5 of the 6 children examined here, language acquisition at primary school age is age-appropriate and includes the child with dysplastic auditory nerve. One child has conspicuous grammatical features (morphology). In all children, the working memory in the subtest processing speed is within the normal range of peers. In the test battery for adults, the 5 children with intact auditory nerve achieve number understanding with CI between 80 and 100%.

Conclusions The children with intact hearing nerve have developed speech understanding with CI. The speech level at primary school age in 5/6 SSD children, including the child with dysplastic auditory nerve, has been developed according to standards. The standard-compliant working memory enables the development of age-appropriate language acquisition. The CI supply enables speech understanding on both sides.

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Publication History

Article published online:
10 June 2020