Language Performance of Adolescents with Cochlear Implants: Strengths,

Weaknesses, and Contributing Factors

Susan Nittrouer, Joseph Antonelli, Joanna Lowenstein, & Popy Shell

University of Florida

R01 DC006237 and R01 DC015992 from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Can they survive in mainstream education with so little support? Really?

Language Performance onKindergarten Entry

More Language to Learn in Elementary School

Phonological Sensitivity

igneous

eskers

varvesUptick inAcademic Demands

eclogite

amphibolitekames

drumlins

Amount of Intervention

Where do we stand now – at the end of middle school?

NH CI

Means (SDs) Means (SDs)

Number 45 47

SES 35 (14) 33 (11)

NVIQ 106 (13) 102 (14)

Spatial Working Memory 87% (10%) 85% (10%)

Age 1st CI 14 month = median

Where do we stand now – at the end of middle school?

Lexicosyntactic Skills

Where do we stand now – at the end of middle school?

Phonological Sensitivity

Where do we stand now – at the end of middle school?

Productive Syntax

Where do we stand now – at the end of middle school?

Narrative Skills

Where do we stand now – at the end of middle school?

The Bottom Line

There’s a lot of language development that happens during the school years.

Children with cochlear implants show delays learning that language.

Those delays are largest for phonologically based language functions, complex syntax, and writing.

So what’s a clinician supposed to do?

Exp Vocab Sent Comp Gram Judg FCC Pig Latin BackWords

SES .439 .311 .385 .254 .348 .307

NVIQ .472 .557 .548 .492 .522 .610

Age 1st CI .019 -.015 .056 .007 -.152 .000

Effects of Demographics(CI only)

bolded = p < .01 Pearson product-moment r

48 mo Exp Vocab Sent Comp Gram Judg FCC Pig Latin BackWords

Exp Vocab .634 .439 .562 .526 .424 .428

PLS AuditoryComprehend

.335 .392 .429 .397 .355 .354

Speech Intelligibility .557 .504 .577 .556 .573 .521

Effects of Skills at 48 months

bolded = p < .01 Pearson product-moment r

During the School Years

• Provide ample opportunity to discover phonological structure

• Emphasize reading instruction

What can we do as a profession?Advocate for adequate and appropriate intervention

Expand training programs for professionals serving school-age children with hearing loss

Translational research on effective interventions

The Summary