Language emergence in early-implanted children

This study develops a model to differentiate early-implanted children with preschool language delays that persist into the elementary grades from children who achieve normal language as they gain auditory, linguistic, and academic experience. A nationwide sample of 60 children with congenital profound deafness, auditory-oral education, and early cochlear implantation (12–36 months) was assessed at average ages of 3.5, 4.5, and 10.5 years. Children were classified with: Normal Language Emergence (NLE: N = 19), Late Language Emergence (LLE: N = 22), or Persistent Language Delay (PLD: N = 19) based on standardized language test scores. Children with PLD did not differ from children with LLE on a number of variables that have previously been associated with post-implant outcome, including pre-implant hearing, age at first CI, gender, maternal education and nonverbal intelligence. Logistic regression analysis identified variables that predicted whether children with early language delay would catch up with hearing age-mates: (1) preschool speech and language level, (2) ear placement of first CI, (3) upgrades in speech processor technology, and (4) CI aided thresholds. A majority of the 60 children in this study reached age-appropriate levels of language, reading, and verbal reasoning and were placed in primary grades with hearing age-mates.