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岁以前接受人工耳蜗植入的幼儿聋儿的言语感知和言语清晰度，并与3岁以后接受人工耳蜗植入的聋儿进行比较。结果如下：3岁以前接受人工耳蜗植入的聋儿在言语感知和可懂度方面的得分显著高于3岁以后接受人工耳蜗植入的聋儿，前一组倾向于使用听觉-听力正常的父母在口头交流方面的表现显著高于听力正常的父母，而听力正常的父母则倾向于使用更多的视觉交流方式，包括手语。结果表明，早期人工耳蜗植入对聋儿言语感知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.