title: [Phonological development in children with cochlear implant(s)].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Normal-hearing children show signs of various phonological processes during language development. These processes represent simplifications of articulation, which are overcome at different time points. For the German language, there are currently no reliable data regarding whether these developmental stages also apply to deaf children with cochlear implants (CI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Phonological development in deaf children with CI was examined and evaluated with the PLAKSS ("Psycholinguistischen Analyse kindlicher Sprechstörungen"). The results of this analysis (time of test 1 = T1, n = 33) were compared to those of a PLAKSS diagnostic evaluation performed 1 year previously (time of test 0 = T0, n = 31).
  
  
  RESULTS
  At T1, 76 % of the whole group showed a phonological development that did not correspond to their hearing age (as measured from the time of the first CI implantation). The most frequently observed phonological processes were the reduction of consonant clusters and fronting. However, 83 % of the group had fewer phonological processes inappropriate to their hearing age at T1 than they did at T0.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The phonological development of children with CI is not equivalent to their hearing age and is structured differently to that of normal-hearing children.
authors.affiliation: Klinik und Poliklinik für Hals-, Nasen- und Ohrenheilkunde, Uniklinik Köln, Cochlear Implant Centrum Köln, Gebäude 23, Kerpener Str. 62-68, 50931, Köln, Deutschland, katrin.kral@uk-koeln.de.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kral
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Streicher
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Junge
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lang-Roth
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003638:Deafness / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D016896:Treatment Outcome