Facilitating Literacy Development in Young Children with Hearing Loss

Spelling in Children With Cochlear Implants: Evidence of Underlying Processing Differences

This study compared the spelling skills and sub-skills of young children with cochlear implants (CIs) who use spoken language only (n = 14) with those of a same-aged typically hearing (TH) control group (n = 30). Spelling accuracy was assessed using irregular and nonsense word stimuli. Error and regression analyses were conducted to provide insight into the phonological and orthographic spelling strategies used by each group. Results indicated that children with CIs were as accurate as the TH group. However, misspellings made by the CI group were less phonologically plausible, and while nonword spelling accuracy was related to letter-sound knowledge for the TH group, the same relationship was non-significant for the CI group. Hence, despite demonstrating a similar degree of overall spelling success to TH children, children with CIs appeared to apply phonics skills less effectively.

Reading Development in Children With Cochlear Implants Who Communicate via Spoken Language: A Psycholinguistic Investigation

Purpose This study sought to comprehensively examine the reading skills and subskills of children with cochlear implants (CIs) and gain insight into the processes underlying their early reading development. Method Fourteen 6- to 9-year-old children with CIs were assessed on a range of reading and spoken language measures. Their performances were compared to a control group of 31 children with normal hearing (NH) of the same chronological and mental age. Group differences were examined using t tests and regression modeling. Results Children with CIs performed significantly worse than children with NH on reading accuracy, phonological processing, and spoken language tasks. The predominant predictor of reading comprehension was word reading accuracy for the CI group and listening comprehension for the NH group. Word reading profiles were similar across groups, with orthographic and phonological processing skills both contributing significant variance. Conclusions Children with CIs demonstrated more early reading difficulties than their peers with NH. As predicted by the Simple View of Reading model, successful reading comprehension for all children related to skills in listening comprehension and word recognition. The CI group's increased reliance on word reading accuracy when comprehending written text may stem from reduced word recognition automaticity. Despite showing reduced reading accuracy, children with CIs appeared to draw on orthographic and phonological skills to a similar degree as children with NH when reading words in isolation.

Oral communicating children using a cochlear implant: good reading outcomes are linked to better language and phonological processing abilities

INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVE

Cochlear implantation provides children with a significant hearing loss the potential to engage in phonological processing via audition; however these children can still have poor or inadequately detailed mental (phonological) representations of speech and as such phonological awareness and reading difficulties. Heterogeneous participant profiles, particularly varying modes of communication have clouded the research regarding reading outcomes of children using a cochlear implant. The objective of this study was to explore the relationships between word reading and reading comprehension outcomes, and a range of variables of a relatively homogenous group of children using cochlear implants.

METHOD

Forty-seven oral communicating children using a cochlear implant and who had attended auditory-verbal therapy served as participants. They were administered a comprehensive battery of 10 different assessments covering 22 different tasks across the domains of speech perception, speech production, language, phonological processing and reading. Correlation and principal component analyses were used to examine the relationships between outcome areas.

RESULTS

Audiologic and demographic variables were not significantly related to reading outcomes, with the exception of family size. Language and word reading were most strongly related to reading comprehension, while phonological awareness and language were most strongly related to word reading. It is proposed that the development of well-specified phonological representations might underlie these relationships.

CONCLUSION

For oral communicating children using a cochlear implant, good reading outcomes are linked to better language and phonological processing abilities.

Screening of vision and hearing in primary school children

BACKGROUND

Hearing and sight are two basic senses in terms of education and profession. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 15 million children worldwide suffer from uncorrected refractive disorders and another 275 million people are handicapped due to compromised hearing. In Indonesia, screening primary school children for hearing and vision is not part of the free public health-care system. Knowledge of the status of a child's hearing and vision may help secure the child's education and future profession.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In five primary schools in a poor urban neighborhood in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, we screened pupils from class 1 to 6, for vision and hearing handicaps, following the WHO's definitions of handicap. On location in the primary schools, we screened vision using a Snellen chart and hearing using distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE). Those with vision below 6/18 were referred to an ophthalmologist and pupils with hearing below 30 decibels at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kilohertz were referred to an ear nose and throat (ENT) specialist for final testing.

RESULTS

Totally, 775 pupils were vision screened and 777 pupils were hearing screened. We found that 2% were disabled by sight and 6% by hearing.

CONCLUSION

Lost without proper education, these pupils can, with simple recommendations, have access to education. We recommend that Indonesia start screening its primary school pupils for hearing and vision to secure the country's future productivity and socioeconomic development.