2021 Volume 64 Issue 1 Pages 78-86
We examined the development of oral communication and the language progress in patient groups with moderate/severe hearing loss and patients with profound hearing loss who had been started on rehabilitation by the teaching method using oral communication. The subjects were the following 6 cases. In the 124 patients who had received guidance, hearing aid use had been initiated 5 to 6 months after birth, and there were no obvious disorders other than hearing and no fluctuation or deterioration of hearing, and no abnormalities were observed in the middle or inner ear. The development was compared in five stages: 1) vocalization imitation, 2) word imitation, 3) two-word chain imitation, 4) positive/negative decision making, and 5) completion of 5W1H, which was the aim of this instruction. The results revealed that while cochlear implant surgery was performed at an average of 2 years 2 months of age in the group with profound hearing impairment, there was a delay of more than 1 year 4 months before the final stage was reached as compared to the groups with moderate/severe hearing impairment.
However, the VIQ results at age 10 were similar in both groups. It was also shown that hearing impairment affects the early development of oral communication as compared to the case in the language development of normal children. Our findings suggest that long-term observation, personalized care and medical care are necessary for voice communication and language development in hearing-impaired children.
