Performance after cochlear implantation: a comparison of children deafenedby meningitis and congenitally deaf children

The speech perception and speech production performance following cochlear implantation of congenitally deaf children and children deafened by meningi tis were analysed. Three groups consisting of 70 congenitally deaf children , 22 children deafened by meningitis before two years of age and 14 childre n deafened by meningitis after two years of age were compared. The group de afened by meningitis after two years of age demonstrated significantly bett er speech perception than the other two groups. Their speech production app eared better but did not achieve statistical significance compared with the other two groups. There was no significant difference in either speech per ception or speech production between the congenitally deaf group and the gr oup deafened by meningitis before two years of age.