Early Listening and Speaking Skills Predict Later Reading Proficiency in Pediatric Cochlear Implant Users

Abstract

Objectives: 

Previous studies have reported that children who use cochlear implants (CIs) tend to achieve higher reading levels than their peers with profound hearing loss who use hearing aids. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of auditory information provided by the CI on the later reading skills of children born with profound deafness. The hypothesis was that there would be a positive and predictive relationship between earlier speech perception, production, and subsequent reading comprehension.

Design: 

The speech perception and production skills at the vowel, consonant, phoneme, and word level of 72 children with prelingual, profound hearing loss were assessed after 48 mos of CI use. The children's reading skills were subsequently assessed using word and passage comprehension measures after an average of 89.5 mos of CI use. A regression analysis determined the amount of variance in reading that could be explained by the variables of perception, production, and socioeconomic status.

Results: 

Regression analysis revealed that it was possible to explain 59% of the variance of later reading skills by assessing the early speech perception and production performance. The results indicated that early speech perception and production skills of children with profound hearing loss who receive CIs predict future reading achievement skills. Furthermore, the study implies that better early speech perception and production skills result in higher reading achievement. It is speculated that the early access to sound helps to build better phonological processing skills, which is one of the likely contributors to eventual reading success.

In Brief

Speech perception and production skill after 48 months of coclear implant (CI) use predicts later reading achievement in pediatric, prelingually deaf CI users. Regression analysis revealed that speech perception and production scores of 72 participants who had 48 months of CI experience explained 59% of the variance in the scores achieved on paragraph comprehension after the children had an average of 90 months of CI experience. The implication is that access to sound helps to build better phonological processing skills, which is one of the likely contributors to eventual reading success.