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

本研究的目的是比较三岁前接受人工耳蜗植入的幼聋儿童与三岁后接受人工耳蜗植入的幼聋儿童的言语感知和言语可理解性。结果表明：三岁前植入人工耳蜗的聋儿在言语感知和可理解性方面的得分明显高于三岁后植入人工耳蜗的聋儿。此外，前一组倾向于使用听觉-口头交流，而后一组倾向于使用更多的视觉交流方式，包括手语。听力正常的父母对孩子的发展满意度显著高于听力正常的父母，而听力正常的父母对孩子的发展满意度明显低于听力正常的父母。结果提示早期人工耳蜗手术对聋儿言语知觉和言语可理解性的习得具有重要意义。

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.