title: Children's communication mode five years after cochlear implantation: changes over time according to age at implant.
abstract: One hundred and seventy six children who had received cochlear implants at one centre in the UK were followed up for five years post-implant. The cohort was divided into three groups by age at implant. 1: Under three years of age; 2: Between three and five; 3: Over five. Their mode of communication was noted at four key intervals - pre-implant; 1, 3 and 5 years post-implant. It was classified as either oral or sign. By five years post-implant, 83% of group 1 were using oral communication, 63.5% of group 2 and 45.1% of group 3. The results showed that the mode of communication five years post-implant is statistically related to age at implantation with more children implanted younger using an oral mode of communication (p = 0.001). Children implanted younger are more likely to change communication mode over time from sign to oral, and do so more quickly than those implanted later.
authors.affiliation: School of Education, University of Birmingham, UK. L.M.Watson@bham.ac.uk
authors.forename: Linda M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: Sue M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Archbold
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Nikolopoulos