Speech production in deaf implanted children with additional disabilities and comparison with age-equivalent implanted children without such disorders

SummaryObjectiveTo assess the long-term speech intelligibility in implanted children with additional disorders and compare them with age-equivalent implanted children without such disorders.Patients175 profoundly deaf children 5 years following cochlear implantation; 67 children with additional difficulties and 108 children without such difficulties. All children were implanted under 5-year-old.Main outcome measureSpeech intelligibility rating (SIR) scale that can be readily applied to young deaf children irrespective of their performance and is reliable between observers.ResultsFive years following implantation, 47 (70%) children with additional difficulties developed connected intelligible speech versus 104 (96%) in the control group. However, the quality of speech was quite different between the two groups, as only 11 (16%) children with additional difficulties achieved the two higher categories (intelligible to all or to people with little experience), whereas 66 (61%) children in the control group did (P < 0.000001). The total number of additional disorders had the strongest correlation with the outcome. Language and communication disorders were the most important contributing factor, followed by physical, cognitive, and autistic spectrum disorders.ConclusionThe majority of deaf children with additional disorders develop connected intelligible speech 5 years following implantation; however, a significant proportion do not develop any speech at all. Thus a third of this group did not realise one of the most important objectives for parents of implantation. Benefit from implantation should not be restricted to speech production alone in this specific population.