The development of preverbal communication skills in Chinese deaf children with cochlear implants / 临床耳鼻咽喉头颈外科杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate preverbal communication skills in Chinese deaf children with cochlear implants, and to provide a basis for designing the habilitation program and establish a precursor for outcomes of habilitation.@*METHOD@#Thirty children with cochlear implants participated in this study with a mean age of 32 months. They all had used the cochlear implant system within 12 months with a mean of 5. 8 months. All the children were diagnosed with prelingual profound hearing loss before cochlear implantation. Tait video analysis was used to analyze and assess the preverbal communication skills including turn-taking, autonomy, eye contact and auditory awareness. All statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS 13.0 statistical software package with a criterion of statistical significance set at P < 0.05.@*RESULT@#The skill of turn-taking developed quickly within 12 months after cochlear implantation. The vocal turn developed in a similar pattern, and the score of gesture turn decreased slowly. The skills of autonomy and appropriate eye contact showed small changes over time at a lower level. The score of auditory awareness increased gradually after surgery.@*CONCLUSION@#Children established a vocal/auditory mode of early communicative behavior following cochlear implantation. They preferred to communicate with others in a more vocal style. Video analysis is a useful tool to assess preverbal communication skills in deaf children with cochlear implants in China.