S. Vandenborne et al., ASSESSMENT OF BASAL SOUND IDENTIFICATION SKILLS AND COMMUNICATION ABILITIES IN PROFOUNDLY DEAF-CHILDREN FITTED WITH HEARING-AIDS OR A COCHLEAR IMPLANT, Clinical otolaryngology and allied sciences, 23(5), 1998, pp. 455-461
Basal auditory functions and early verbal communication skills were ex
amined in young, profoundly deaf children with hearing aids or a cochl
ear implant. The hearing aid users (n = 23) were subdivided on the bas
is of their (unaided) hearing thresholds into: group A (pure tone aver
age (PTA) at 0.5, 1 and 2 kHz: 90-100 dB HL); group B (PTA: 100-110 dB
HL); and group C (PTA > 110 dB HL). All the children with a cochlear
implant (n = 20) had a profound sensorineural hearing loss with a PTA
that exceeded 120 dB HL. Functional hearing was evaluated by means of
basal sound identification. The child's communication abilities with h
earing aids or a cochlear implant were assessed using structured obser
vations on the Scales of Early Communication Skills for Hearing Impair
ed Children. The basal auditory functions on a sound identification le
vel improved over time in the cochlear implant users and groups A and
B. Hardly any improvement was seen in group C. The performance of all
the groups (either hearing aid or cochlear implant) on the Scales of E
arly Communication Skills for Hearing Impaired Children at 6 months af
ter fitting the device and at later evaluations, was close to the aver
age level for their age.