title: Long-term trajectories of the development of speech sound production in pediatric cochlear implant recipients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study characterized the development of speech sound production in prelingually deaf children with a minimum of 8 years of cochlear implant (CI) experience.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-seven pediatric CI recipients' spontaneous speech samples from annual evaluation sessions were phonemically transcribed. Accuracy for these speech samples was evaluated in piecewise regression models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As a group, pediatric CI recipients showed steady improvement in speech sound production following implantation, but the improvement rate declined after 6 years of device experience. Piecewise regression models indicated that the slope estimating the participants' improvement rate was statistically greater than 0 during the first 6 years postimplantation, but not after 6 years. The group of pediatric CI recipients' accuracy of speech sound production after 4 years of device experience reasonably predicts their speech sound production after 5-10 years of device experience.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The development of speech sound production in prelingually deaf children stabilizes after 6 years of device experience, and typically approaches a plateau by 8 years of device use. Early growth in speech before 4 years of device experience did not predict later rates of growth or levels of achievement. However, good predictions could be made after 4 years of device use.
authors.affiliation: University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
authors.forename: J Bruce
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Tomblin
authors.forename: Shu-Chen
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Linda J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003638:Deafness / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013060:Speech; D013068:Speech Production Measurement