The auditory and speech performance of children with intellectual disability after cochlear implantation.
CONCLUSIONS
The results revealed that children with intellectual disability (ID) who underwent cochlear implantation (CI) showed gradual progress in their auditory perception and speech development. ID in children should not be considered a contraindication for CI, because they are able to obtain a chance to develop oral communication skills following CI.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess the auditory and speech performance of 14 young deaf children with ID after CI.


METHODS
Fourteen children with ID who underwent CI between December 2002 and February 2010 were included. Improvement in auditory perception and speech production over time was evaluated longitudinally with the Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP) score and Korean version of Ling's stages (K-Ling). The results were compared with those of age- and gender-matched implanted controls without additional disabilities. All tests were performed four times in each patient: before implantation and at 3, 6, and 12 months after implantation. Preoperative and postoperative communication modes were also assessed and compared between the two groups.


RESULTS
Auditory perception and speech production of deaf children with an ID improved consistently after CI. In addition, the communication mode also took a favorable turn from nonverbal to vocalizations or oral communication or from vocalizations to oral communication.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Hye-Youn
HY
Youm
Il Joon
IJ
Moon
Eun Yeon
EY
Kim
Bo Young
BY
Kim
Yang-Sun
YS
Cho
Won-Ho
WH
Chung
Sung Hwa
SH
Hong
D000367:Age Factors; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003638:Deafness / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013065:Speech Intelligibility / Q000502:physiology*