A study on speech perception and speech intelligibility of young deaf children who received cochlear implants in their early years

本研究的目的是调查3岁前植入人工耳蜗术的聋儿的言语知觉和语言可理解性，并与3岁后植入人工耳蜗术的聋儿进行比较。结果表明：3岁以前植入人工耳蜗者，其言语知觉和语言清晰度得分显著高于后植入者，且前者倾向于采用听-口沟通，后者倾向于使用包括手语在内的视觉沟通方式；前者听力家长对子女发展的满意率显著高于后者，说明早期人工耳蜗术对聋儿言语知觉和言语清晰度的获得具有重要意义。

The purpose of the study was to investigate speech perception and speech intelligibility of young deaf children who received cochlear implants before three years old, compared with deaf children who received cochlear implants after three years old. Results were the followings : the deaf children who received cochlear implants before three years old showed significantly higher scores of speech perception and intelligibility compared with deaf children who received cochlear implants in later years.In addition, the former group tended to employ auditory-oral communication compared with the latter group who tended to employ more visual modes of communication including sign language.The hearing parents of the former group showed significantly higher satisfaction rates as to their children's development compared with the lower satisfaction rates of the parents of the latter group.The results indicated the significance of early cochlear implant operation in the acquisition of speech perception and speech intelligibility by deaf children.