2009 Volume 52 Issue 6 Pages 602-611
We followed the developmental progress over the long-term of 4 children wearing cochlear implants (C.I.) and also, for comparison, that of a child wearing a hearing aid, and made the following observations.
The articulation development level of children who had started wearing a C.I. before or at the age of 2 years was similar to that of children with normal hearing; children who started wearing a C.I. at the age of 6 years also showed improvement of the articulation ability, although they showed variations in the development rate of the articulation ability.
Children who started wearing a C.I. after the age of 7 years showed slow improvement of articulation, although there remained the fear of residual difficulties in articulation.
It was found that both a young age at the start of wearing of a C.I. and a long duration of wearing of a C.I. had beneficial effects on the acquisition of the ability to articulate. It was considered that the articulation ability developed based on that of the language ability, and the level of acquisition varied according to the developmental condition of the children at the age of 6 to 7 years, at which acquisition of articulation ability is completed in children with normal hearing.
