title: Oral communicating children using a cochlear implant: good reading outcomes are linked to better language and phonological processing abilities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cochlear implantation provides children with a significant hearing loss the potential to engage in phonological processing via audition; however these children can still have poor or inadequately detailed mental (phonological) representations of speech and as such phonological awareness and reading difficulties. Heterogeneous participant profiles, particularly varying modes of communication have clouded the research regarding reading outcomes of children using a cochlear implant. The objective of this study was to explore the relationships between word reading and reading comprehension outcomes, and a range of variables of a relatively homogenous group of children using cochlear implants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-seven oral communicating children using a cochlear implant and who had attended auditory-verbal therapy served as participants. They were administered a comprehensive battery of 10 different assessments covering 22 different tasks across the domains of speech perception, speech production, language, phonological processing and reading. Correlation and principal component analyses were used to examine the relationships between outcome areas.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Audiologic and demographic variables were not significantly related to reading outcomes, with the exception of family size. Language and word reading were most strongly related to reading comprehension, while phonological awareness and language were most strongly related to word reading. It is proposed that the development of well-specified phonological representations might underlie these relationships.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For oral communicating children using a cochlear implant, good reading outcomes are linked to better language and phonological processing abilities.
authors.affiliation: Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre, Sydney, Australia; Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: Kylie@vmsolicitors.com.au.
authors.forename: Kylie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: von Muenster
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D019929:Cochlear Implantation / Q000379:methods* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003142:Communication; D003638:Deafness / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D007807:Language Tests; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010700:Phonetics; D011932:Reading; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014825:Vocabulary
keywords: Cochlear implants; Language; Phonological processing; Reading