title: Structured telephone training improves telephone competence in prelingually deafened children with a cochlear implant.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study is to assess the efficacy of a 6-month telephone use training programme in prelingually deafened children with a cochlear implant (CI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven children with a CI aged between 3.5 and 8 years participated in a step-by-step telephone training programme. After completion of 3 months of formal training provided by a special education professional, parents continued telephone training at home for 3 months and kept records. The outcomes of the entire 6-month telephone training were measured at three intervals using the Telephone Profile, the Iowa closed-set sentence test (Level A), and a parent questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The scores on the Telephone Profile and Iowa closed-set sentence test significantly increased between the pre-training assessment and the assessments at 3 and 6 months. The results on the Iowa closed-set sentence test significantly decreased between the 3- and the 6-month-post training assessments. The majority of parents reported 'slight improvement' in telephone skills after telephone training. No improvement was reported by the majority of parents in the use of repair strategies during telephone conversations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Telephone training provided by a special education professional appears effective in prelingually deafened children with a CI. Home training provided by parents is less effective, but helps maintain the skills acquired in the professional telephone training.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Structured telephone training provided by a professional improves telephone skills in children with a CI. Repair strategies for telephone use should be incorporated into rehabilitation programmes for CI users.
authors: Kavita
authors: K
authors: Mathur
authors: Janani
authors: J
authors: Jeyaraman
authors: Madhavendra Chandra
authors: MC
authors: Mathur
authors: Ridhima
authors: R
authors: Batra
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019929:Cochlear Implantation / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003638:Deafness / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000601:surgery; D060345:Education of Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013067:Speech Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone
keywords: Rehabilitation; Speech perception; Telephone use