title: What can we expect of normally-developing children implanted at a young age with respect to their auditory, linguistic and cognitive skills?
abstract: As a result of neonatal hearing screening and subsequent early cochlear implantation (CI) profoundly deaf children have access to important information to process auditory signals and master spoken language skills at a young age. Nevertheless, auditory, linguistic and cognitive outcome measures still reveal great variability in individual achievements: some children with CI(s) perform within normal limits, while others lag behind. Understanding the causes of this variation would allow clinicians to offer better prognoses to CI candidates and efficient follow-up and rehabilitation. This paper summarizes what we can expect of normally developing children with CI(s) with regard to spoken language, bilateral and binaural auditory perception, speech perception and cognitive skills. Predictive factors of performance and factors influencing variability are presented, as well as some novel data on cognitive functioning and speech perception in quiet and in noise. Subsequently, we discuss technical and non-technical issues which should be considered in the future in order to optimally guide the child with profound hearing difficulties. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled <Lasker Award>.
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Dept Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49, Bus 721, Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: astrid.vanwieringen@med.kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Wieringen
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Dept Neurosciences, Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology, Herestraat 49, Bus 721, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wouters
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000367:Age Factors; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology; D001307:Auditory Perception; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019929:Cochlear Implantation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003071:Cognition; D003638:Deafness / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D061345:Early Medical Intervention; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007804:Language Development; D015997:Neonatal Screening / Q000379:methods; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013017:Sound Localization; D013067:Speech Perception