In Brief:
A benefit of “early” cochlear implantation appears to be enhanced speech production, but what about later implantation in individuals with longer-term auditory deprivation? We assessed longitudinal changes in speech production in older implant recipients, observing significant gains in speech production in about one-half of individuals. Interestingly, improvements in speech production were not related to the duration of implant use or to speech perception abilities. These results stress the need for further studies to determine the extent to which improvements in speech production reflect “auditory” input versus other factors, such as speech therapy.
