Auditory and language abilities of hearing impaired infant-toddler in the first year of auditory intervention

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1672-2922.2015.04.007

Abstract：Objective To analyze the relationship between auditory and language abilities of hearing im-paired infant-toddlers and hearing devices as well as the intervention timing;and to compare assessment in-struments developed in China with those commonly used internationally. Methods Forty-seven infants and toddlers with congenital severe or profound hearing impairment were selected and separated into two groups based upon the type of hearing devices they wore. Their clinical data were reviewed and their auditory and language abilities were evaluated before intervention (0 month) and after intervention (at 3, 6, 9 and 12 <br> months). Their CAP, SIR, IT-MAIS, MUSS and LittlEARS scores were collected through questionnaires at each assessment interval. Results The overall auditory and language abilities improved along with the in-crease of intervention period. The auditory and language abilities in infants and toddlers were not very differ-ent no matter they wore hearing aids or cochlear implants in the first year. There were correlations between speech perception rates and CAP, IT-MAIS or LittlEARS scores, and between language age and SIR scores. There was no correlation between language age and MUSS scores. Conclusion When set at optimal levels, hearing aids or CIs provide similar auditory and language capabilities improvement in the first year of inter-vention in infants-toddlers. Assessment instruments developed in China are comparable with those commonly used internationally on certain aspects in a complementary manner, although they cannot replace each other completely.