The role of lexical and prosodic characteristics of mothers' child-directed speech for the early vocabulary development of Italian children with cochlear implants.

BACKGROUND: Variability in the vocabulary outcomes of children with cochlear implants (CIs) is partially explained by child-directed speech (CDS) characteristics. Yet, relatively little is known about whether and how mothers adapt their lexical and prosodic characteristics to the child's hearing status (before and after implantation, and compared with groups with normal hearing (NH)) and how important they are in affecting vocabulary development in the first 12 months of hearing experience. AIMS: To investigate whether mothers of children with CIs produce CDS with similar lexical and prosodic characteristics compared with mothers of age-matched children with NH, and whether they modify these characteristics after implantation. In addition, to investigate whether mothers' CDS characteristics predict children's early vocabulary skills before and after implantation. METHODS & PROCEDURES: A total of 34 dyads (17 with NH, 17 with children with CIs; ages = 9-32 months), all acquiring Italian, were involved in the study. Mothers' and children's lexical quantity (tokens) and variety (types), mothers' prosodic characteristics (pitch range and variability), and children's vocabulary skills were assessed at two time points, corresponding to before and 1 year post-CI activation for children with CIs. Children's vocabulary skills were assessed using parent reports; lexical and prosodic characteristics were observed in semi-structured mother-child interactions. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Results showed that mothers of children with CIs produced speech with similar lexical quantity but lower lexical variety, and with increased pitch range and variability, than mothers of children with NH. Mothers generally increased their lexical quantity and variety and their pitch range between sessions. Children with CIs showed reduced expressive vocabulary and lower lexical quantity and variety than their peers 12 months post-CI activation. Mothers' prosodic characteristics did not explain variance in children's vocabulary skills; their lexical characteristics predicted children's early vocabulary and lexical outcomes, especially in the NH group, but were not related to later language development. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Our findings confirm previous studies on other languages and support the idea that the lexical characteristics of mothers' CDS have a positive effect on children's early measures of vocabulary development across hearing groups, whereas prosodic cues play a minor role. Greater input quantity and quality may assist children in the building of basic language model representations, whereas pitch cues may mainly serve attentional and emotional processes. Results emphasize the need for additional longitudinal studies investigating the input received from other figures surrounding the child and its role for children's language development. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on the subject Mothers' CDS is thought to facilitate and support language acquisition in children with various language developmental trajectories, including children with CIs. Because children with CIs are at risk for language delays and have acoustic processing limitations, their mothers may have to produce a lexically simpler but prosodically richer input, compared to mothers of children with NH. Yet, the literature reports mixed findings and no study to our knowledge has concurrently addressed the role of mothers' lexical and prosodic characteristics for children's vocabulary development before implantation and in the first 12 months of hearing experience. What this study adds to the existing knowledge The study shows that mothers of children with CIs produce input of similar quantity but reduced variety, and with heightened pitch characteristics, compared to mothers of children with NH. There was also a general increase in mothers' lexical quantity and variety, and in their pitch range, between sessions. Only their lexical characteristics predicted children's early vocabulary skills. Their lexical variety predicted children's expressive vocabulary and lexical variety only in the NH group. What are the practical and clinical implications of this work? These findings expand our knowledge about the effects of maternal input and may contribute to the improvement of early family-centred intervention programmes for supporting language development in children with CIs.

Narrative skills and language comprehension in preschool children with cochlear implants: A comparison with children with Developmental Language Disorder or typical development.

INTRODUCTION: The narrative skills of children with cochlear implants (CIs) are fragile, but the factors at play and whether these difficulties could be similar to those detected in language impairment are not clear. The present study aims to assess, at the microstructural level, narrative skills, comparing children with CIs with children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) or Typical Development (TD). Furthermore, the relationship between verbal (lexical and morphosyntactic) comprehension and narrative skills across groups is investigated. METHODS: The narratives of 19 children with CIs (Mage = 62.42 months, SD = 6.83), 13 children with DLD (Mage = 65.38 months, SD = 4.27), and 18 preschool children with TD (Mage = 63.67 months, SD = 4.31) were assessed in a standardized task. Articles, prepositions, pronouns, gender and number agreement, accuracy in the use of verbs, and number of arguments in each sentence were analysed. Lexical and morphosyntactic comprehension were also assessed. Performance was compared across groups using ANOVAs or Kruskal-Wallis tests. The role of lexical and morphosyntactic comprehension in predicting each morphological and syntactic element in the narrative task was examined using linear regressions. RESULTS: Data analysis showed that both children with CIs and DLD had fragilities in narration, both in the morphological and syntactic components. Although some differences between children with CIs and those with DLD emerged in descriptive analyses, these were not statistically significant. Regressions showed that morphosyntactic comprehension predicted the number of pronouns produced only in the TD group. CONCLUSIONS: The scarce differences between CI and DLD groups and the absence of an effect of morphosyntactic comprehension on pronoun production may be due to their low production of these elements in the narrative task and/or to a difficulty in managing pronouns in an expressive task regardless of their ability to comprehend them. Potential implications of these results are discussed.

Emotional abilities in preadolescents and adolescents with long-term cochlear implant use.

OBJECTIVES: Emotional abilities (EAs) are particularly important during preadolescence/adolescence, two challenging periods characterized by significant biological, physical, and cognitive changes. The present study attempted to a holistic EA approach in preadolescents/adolescents with cochlear implants (CI) and typical hearing (TH), considering various aspects such as perception, cognitive facilitation, comprehension, and management of emotions. A secondary aim was to identify significant demographic and audiological factors of EA development. METHODS: CI/TH groups were matched for chronological age, nonverbal IQ, gender, economic income, and maternal level of education. Each group consisted of 43 participants (age range 10-18 years). EAs were evaluated by using the multi-trait/method IE-ACCME test. Auditory-linguistic assessments included participants' lexical skills and Matrix performance as well. RESULTS: EA performance for perception and cognitive facilitation did not show any statistically significant CI/TH group differences (p > 0.05). Significant CI/TH differences emerged for emotion comprehension and management: CI group performed significantly worse in understanding emotional blends (t = 2.56, p = 0.014) but better in personal emotion management (t = -2.01, p = 0.048). For the CI group, gender showed statistically significant effects on cognitive facilitation in sensations, with males performing better than females (U = 129, p = 0.018). TH preadolescents showed significantly lower scores in understanding emotional changes in comparison to TH adolescents (U = 125.5, p = 0.01). Emotional blends understanding showed a weak negative correlation with Matrix performance (r = - 0.38, p = 0.013) and a moderate positive correlation with lexical skills (r = 0.40, p = 0.008). Relationships management showed various significant correlations: weak negative correlations with age at CI (r = - 0.38, p = 0.011) and Matrix performance (r = - 0.36, p = 0.016) as well as weak positive correlations with nonverbal-IQ (r = 0.38, p = 0.013) and positive moderate correlations with lexical skills (r = 0.49, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Cochlear implantation seems to show significant positive effects on emotional development in children, allowing them to achieve age appropriate EAs as they grow up and become preadolescents/adolescents. EA assessment in CI users may not only support monitorization of EA trajectory, but also early identification of any EA disorders, so that subjects with low EA profiles could be timely and properly intervened.

The influence of auditory selective attention on linguistic outcomes in deaf and hard of hearing children with cochlear implants.

PURPOSE: Auditory selective attention (ASA) is crucial to focus on significant auditory stimuli without being distracted by irrelevant auditory signals and plays an important role in language development. The present study aimed to investigate the unique contribution of ASA to the linguistic levels achieved by a group of cochlear implanted (CI) children. METHODS: Thirty-four CI children with a median age of 10.05 years were tested using both the "Batteria per la Valutazione dell'Attenzione Uditiva e della Memoria di Lavoro Fonologica nell'età evolutiva-VAUM-ELF" to assess their ASA skills, and two Italian standardized tests to measure lexical and morphosyntactic skills. A regression analysis, including demographic and audiological variables, was conducted to assess the unique contribution of ASA to language skills. RESULTS: The percentages of CI children with adequate ASA performances ranged from 50 to 29.4%. Bilateral CI children performed better than their monolateral peers. ASA skills contributed significantly to linguistic skills, accounting alone for the 25% of the observed variance. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings are clinically relevant as they highlight the importance to assess ASA skills as early as possible, reflecting their important role in language development. Using simple clinical tools, ASA skills could be studied at early developmental stages. This may provide additional information to outcomes from traditional auditory tests and may allow us to implement specific training programs that could positively contribute to the development of neural mechanisms of ASA and, consequently, induce improvements in language skills.

An Adaptation and Validation Study of the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) in Italian Normal-Hearing Children.

This study aimed to translate and adapt the English version of the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) for children and for parents into the Italian language; validate SSQ for hearing children and their parents; and evaluate the discriminant validity of the instrument. A group of 102 normal-hearing Italian children, aged between 9 and 16 years, and their parents were included in this study. A group of 31 parents of normal-hearing Italian children aged between 6 and 8 years was also included. A group of 57 hearing-impaired Italian children aged between 9 and 16 years, and their parents were also included, as well as a group of 30 parents of hearing-impaired Italian children aged between 6 and 8 years. Cronbach's alpha in the SSQ for parents was 0.92; it was 0.95 in the SSQ for children. Guttmann's split-half coefficient in SSQ for children for both λ4 and λ6 was 0.98; in SSQ for parents in λ4 was 0.96 and λ6 was 0.95. These data provide evidence for the discriminant validity of the SSQ scale (p-value < 0.001). Italian SSQ scales for children and for parents are now available.

Listening comprehension in profoundly deaf children with cochlear implants: the role of auditory perception and foundational linguistic and cognitive skills.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to investigate the listening comprehension (LC) skills in deaf and hard of hearing children (DHH) using cochlear implants (CI). Besides, personal and audiological variables that could influence the levels of competence reached were analyzed. METHODS: Thirty-four children using CI were enrolled. LC skills were assessed through the standardized Italian test "Comprensione Orale-Test e Trattamento" (CO-TT). A univariate analysis was conducted to compare LC with gender, listening mode (unilateral or bilateral), maternal level of education and family income. A bivariate analysis was performed to search possible connections between children's performances and their individual characteristics, audiological conditions, and language levels. Finally, a multivariate analysis was performed using a stepwise hierarchical linear regression model which included all variables whose p value resulted ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: Twenty-one children using CI (61.8%) showed adequate performances in terms of chronological age, while 13 (38.2%) showed difficulties in LC. Maternal level of education, age at diagnosis and non-verbal cognitive level accounted for 43% of the observed variance. Auditory attention skills explained an additional 15% of variance. Morphosyntactic comprehension added a further 12% of variance. CONCLUSION: CI can really help many DHH children to reach adequate LC skills, but in some cases difficulties remain. Factors influencing LC need to be early investigated and considered when planning an appropriate rehabilitative intervention.

Do Acoustic Environment Characteristics Affect the Lexical Development of Children With Cochlear Implants? A Longitudinal Study Before and After Cochlear Implant Activation.

Purpose This study investigates the acoustic environment of children with cochlear implants (CIs) and the relationship between exposure to speech, in noise and in quiet, and the children's lexical production up to 1 year after CI activation, while controlling for the effect of early individual differences in receptive vocabulary growth. Method Eighteen children with CIs were observed at 3, 6, and 12 months after CI activation. Children's spontaneous word production during interaction with their mothers (types and tokens) and their expressive and receptive vocabulary size were considered. The characteristics of the acoustic environments in terms of acoustic scenes (speech in noise or in quiet, quiet, noise, music, and other) and of loudness ranges were assessed using data logging of the children's devices. Results Data analysis showed that both the number of tokens and the number of types produced 1 year after CI activation were affected by the children's exposure to speech in quiet with a loudness range between 40 and 69 dB. Expressive vocabulary size and types were affected by the receptive vocabulary knowledge that the children achieved over the first 3 months after CI activation. Conclusions Our data support the role of speech environment and individual differences in early comprehension on lexical production. The importance of exposure to speech with particular characteristics for the lexical development of children with CIs and the implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Variables influencing executive functioning in preschool hearing-impaired children implanted within 24 months of age: an observational cohort study.

PURPOSE: Executive Functions (EFs) are fundamental to every aspect of life. The present study was implemented to evaluate factors influencing their development in a group of preschools orally educated profoundly deaf children of hearing parents, who received CI within 2 years of age. METHODS: Twenty-five preschool CI children were tested using the Battery for Assessment of Executive Functions (BAFE) to assess their flexibility, inhibition, and non-verbal visuo-spatial working memory skills. The percentage of children performing in normal range was reported for each of the EF subtests. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis were performed to assess differences between gender, listening mode, and degree of parents' education subgroups. The Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient was calculated to investigate the relationship between EF scores of audiological and linguistic variables. RESULTS: Percentages ranging from 76 to 92% of the children reached adequate EF scores at BAFE. Significant relations (p < 0.05) were found between EFs and early intervention, listening, and linguistic skills. Furthermore, CI children from families with higher education level performed better at the response shifting, inhibitory control, and attention flexibility tasks. Economic income correlated significantly with flexibility and inhibitory skills. Females performed better than males only in the attention flexibility task. CONCLUSIONS: The present study is one of the first to focus attention on the development of EFs in preschool CI children, providing an initial understanding of the characteristics of EFs at the age when these skills emerge. Clinical practice must pay increasing attention to these aspects which are becoming the new emerging challenge of rehabilitation programs.

Preverbal Production and Early Lexical Development in Children With Cochlear Implants: A Longitudinal Study Following Pre-implanted Children Until 12 Months After Cochlear Implant Activation.

Studies have shown that children vary in the trajectories of their language development after cochlear implant (CI) activation. The aim of the present study is to assess the preverbal and lexical development of a group of 20 Italian-speaking children observed longitudinally before CI activation and at three, 6 and 12 months after CI surgery (mean age at the first session: 17.5 months; SD: 8.3; and range: 10-35). The group of children with CIs (G-CI) was compared with two groups of normally-hearing (NH) children, one age-matched (G-NHA; mean age at the first session: 17.4 months; SD: 8.0; and range: 10-34) and one language-matched (G-NHL; n = 20; mean age at the first session: 11.2 months; SD: 0.4; and range: 11-12). The spontaneous interactions between children and their mothers during free-play were transcribed. Preverbal babbling production and first words were considered for each child. Data analysis showed significant differences in babbling and word production between groups, with a lower production of words in children with CIs compared to the G-NHA group and a higher production of babbling compared to the G-NHL children. Word production 1 year after activation was significantly lower for the children with CIs than for language-matched children only when maternal education was controlled for. Furthermore, latent class growth analysis showed that children with CIs belonged mainly to classes that exhibited a low level of initial production but also progressive increases over time. Babbling production had a statistically significant effect on lexical growth but not on class membership, and only for groups showing slower and constant increases. Results highlight the importance of preverbal vocal patterns for later lexical development and may support families and speech therapists in the early identification of risk and protective factors for language delay in children with CIs.

Does early cochlear implantation promote better reading comprehension skills?

OBJECTIVE: to investigate the effect of age at CI activation and to explore the role of other variables such as linguistic skills, stimulation modality and gender on reading comprehension. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective observational nonrandomized study. METHODS: 89 children with profound congenital sensorineural hearing loss were included in the study. The mean age at CI activation was 21 months (DS ± 11; range 7-50). The Italian reading standardized test, "Prove di lettura MT", was used to assess reading comprehension. The individual raw data MT score were converted into z scores (expected values: means = 0 and SD = 1). The positive values indicated better performance and negative values indicated worse performance. RESULTS: Early implanted children achieved significantly better reading comprehension skills, 55 out of 89 children are within 1 SD from the overall mean. 34 children (38.2%) attainted MT z-scores less than 1 SD below the mean. Children with unilateral CI performed somewhat worse if compared to bilateral CI and bimodal stimulation mode, although the differences were weakly significant from a statistical point of view. A strong and positive correlation (rho .69, p < .001) was found with the lexical and morphosyntactic comprehension (rho .70, p < .001). Not significantly different values were observed for gender and parental education level. CONCLUSION: Early cochlear implantation promoted better development of reading skills in children with cochlear implantation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCES: outcomes research.

Mothers' emotional experiences related to their child's diagnosis of deafness and cochlear implant surgery: Parenting stress and child's language development.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to assess the emotional experiences, specifically parenting stress, of mothers of children with cochlear implants (CIs), and their children's language development before surgery and at three and six months after CI activation. METHODS: Twenty mothers of children with CIs were interviewed before their children's surgery about their experiences in connection with the diagnosis of deafness, the surgery and the activation of the CI. The Parenting Stress Index questionnaire and the MacArthur-Bates-Communication Development Inventory were administered before the surgery and at 3 and 6 months after the CI activation. RESULTS: Analysis of the qualitative data resulting from the interviews showed that the mothers' emotional experiences before the CI surgery were complex. Mothers reported both positive and negative emotions related to deafness, diagnosis and surgery, benefits of the CI, coping strategies and future expectations. The mothers of children with more advanced lexical production six months after CI activation displayed a high frequency of themes related to positive emotions, thoughts and coping strategies before the surgery. Distress on the part of the mothers, perceptions of difficulties in their child and instances of parent-child dysfunctional interaction were negatively and significantly related to the child's language and communication development. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the importance of assessing the mother's emotional experience in relation to diagnosis and CI activation before the surgery. IMPLICATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE ARE DISCUSSED: specifically, the importance of the support offered to the parents, aimed at enhancing both their awareness of their expectations about their child's rehabilitation process and their self-efficacy in supporting the child's adaptation to the use of the CI.

Communication dynamics between mothers and their children with cochlear implants: Effects of maternal support for language production.

This study examined (a) the functions and modalities of maternal and child communication during interaction between mothers and children with cochlear implants (CIs), comparing them with mothers and normally hearing (NH) children, and (b) the effectiveness of maternal support strategies in eliciting adequate answers in children with CI. Twenty preschoolers with CIs (M = 40 months) and 40 NH children - 20 matched by chronological age (CANH, M = 40 months) and 20 matched by hearing age (HANH, M = 25 months) - were videotaped during shared book reading and toy play with their mothers. Child and maternal utterances were coded for communicative functions and modalities (vocal, gestural, bimodal), including gesture types; maternal repairs were examined for type of support provided, and child answers for adequacy. Mothers in the CI group and in the CANH group displayed higher proportions of Informative Repairs than mothers of HANH children. However, unlike the mothers of NH children, mothers of children with CIs used bimodal utterances significantly more than vocal utterances. Sequential analysis revealed that maternal Informative Repairs elicited the production of Adequate Answers in both children with CIs and CANH. Interestingly, in the CI group this association was found only when Informative Repairs were accompanied by gestures. These findings offer suggestions for intervention programs focused on parent-child conversation.

Socio-emotional adjustment of adolescents with cochlear implants: Loneliness, emotional autonomy, self-concept, and emotional experience at the hospital.

Recent studies have reported contrasting results in the socio-emotional adjustment of Italian adolescents with cochlear implants (CIs). The aim of the present study is to explore the relationship between the socio-emotional adjustment of adolescents with CIs, the quality of their hospital stay, and their age at CI activation. The participants were 29 adolescents with CIs (CI group) and 29 typically developing adolescents (TD group). The Emotional Autonomy Scale, the Loneliness and Aloneness Scale for Children and Adolescents, and the Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale were administered to each participant. The emotional experience reported during the hospital stay was considered for each participant in the CI group. The adolescents with CIs displayed significantly higher levels of loneliness and lower levels of aversion toward aloneness than the TD group participants. Adolescents who had received the CI in preschool displayed a higher level of physical self-concept than adolescents who had received it later. The adolescents' emotional experiences at the hospital were reported to be quite complex and related to their relationships with parents. In summary, the findings point to a specific type of fragility in socio-emotional adjustment-focused on loneliness/aloneness-rather than a general one.

Spontaneous language production of Italian children with cochlear implants and their mothers in two interactive contexts.

BACKGROUND: In recent years many studies have shown that the use of cochlear implants (CIs) improves children's skills in processing the auditory signal and, consequently, the development of both language comprehension and production. Nevertheless, many authors have also reported that the development of language skills in children with CIs is variable and influenced by individual factors (e.g., age at CI activation) and contextual aspects (e.g., maternal linguistic input). AIMS: To assess the characteristics of the spontaneous language production of Italian children with CIs, their mothers' input and the relationship between the two during shared book reading and semi-structured play. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Twenty preschool children with CIs and 40 typically developing children, 20 matched for chronological age (CATD group) and 20 matched for hearing age (HATD group), were observed during shared book reading and semi-structured play with their mothers. Samples of spontaneous language were transcribed and analysed for each participant. The numbers of types, tokens, mean length of utterance (MLU) and grammatical categories were considered, and the familiarity of each mother's word was calculated. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The children with CIs produced shorter utterances than the children in the CATD group. Their mothers produced language with lower levels of lexical variability and grammatical complexity, and higher proportions of verbs with higher familiarity than did the mothers in the other groups during shared book reading. The children's language was more strongly related to that of their mothers in the CI group than in the other groups, and it was associated with the age at CI activation. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: The findings suggest that the language of children with CIs is related both to their mothers' input and to age at CI activation. They might prompt suggestions for intervention programs focused on shared-book reading.

Speech processor data logging helps in predicting early linguistic outcomes in implanted children.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the value of listening-data logged in the speech processor on the prediction of the early auditory and linguistic skills in children who received a cochlear implant in their first 2 years of life. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective observational non-randomized study. METHODS: Ten children with profound congenital sensorineural hearing loss were included in the study. The mean age at CI activation was 16.9 months (SD ± 7.2; range 10-24). The auditory skills were evaluated with the Infant Toddler Meaningful Inventory Scale and the Category of Auditory Performance. Lexical level was assessed with the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory. The overall data of average daily use and acoustic scene-analyses were extracted from Data Logging system. The effect of the one-year cumulative listening time to speech (in quiet) and speech-in-noise on the auditory and lexical scores was analysed. RESULTS: A significant positive correlation was found between speech in quiet exposure time at low loudness level (<70 dB) and lexical quotient after one year of CI use. Infant Toddler Meaningful Inventory Scale was negatively correlated with the highest speech-in-noise loudness levels (>80 dB). The Category of Auditory Performance was not related to the logged data. CONCLUSION: The listening environment can influence the early functional outcomes in younger implanted children. In this perspective, the data logging system is a promising tool in predicting early linguistic and auditory outcomes.

Level of emotion comprehension in children with mid to long term cochlear implant use: How basic and more complex emotion recognition relates to language and age at implantation.

OBJECTIVES: The current study was designed with three main aims: To document the level of emotional comprehension skills, from basic to more complex ones, reached by a wide sample of cochlear implant (CI) deaf children with at least 36 months of device use; To investigate subjective and audiological factors that can affect their emotional development; To identify, if present, a "critical age", in which early intervention might positively affect adequate emotional competence development. DESIGN: This is an observational cohort study. Children with congenital severe/profound deafness were selected based on: aged by 4-11 years, minimum of 36 months of CI use, Italian as the primary language in the family; normal cognitive level and absence of associated disorders or socio-economic difficulties. Audiological characteristics and language development were assessed throughout standardized tests, to measure speech perception in quiet, lexical comprehension and production. The development of emotions' understanding was assessed using the Test of Emotion Comprehension (TEC) of Pons and Harris, a hierarchical developmental model, where emotion comprehension is organized in 3 Stages (external, mental and reflective). Statistical analysis was accomplished via the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient, to study the relationship between the personal and audiological characteristics; a multivariate linear regression analysis was carried out to find which variables were better associated with the standardized TEC values; a chi-squared test with Yate's continuity correction and Mann-Whitney U test were used to account for differences between continuous variables and proportions. RESULTS: 72 children (40 females, 32 males) with a mean age of 8.1 years were included. At TEC score, 57 children showed normal range performances (79.17% of recipients) and 15 fell below average (20.83% of recipients). The 16.63% of older subjects (range of age 8-12 years) didn't master the Stage 3 (reflective), which is normally acquired by 8 years of age and failed 2 or all the 3 items of this component. Subjects implanted within 18 months of age had better emotion comprehension skills. TEC results were also positively correlated with an early diagnosis, a longer implant use, better auditory skills and higher scores on lexical and morphosintactic tests. On the contrary, it was negatively correlated with the presence of siblings and the order of birth. The gender, the side and the severity of deafness, type of implant and strategy were not correlated. CONCLUSIONS: Early implanted children have more chance to develop adequate emotion comprehension, especially when the complex aspects are included, due to the very strong link between listening and language skills and emotional development. Furthermore, longer CI auditory experience along with early intervention allows an adequate communication development which positively influences the acquisition of such competencies.

Social conversational skills development in early implanted children.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Social conversational skills are a salient aspect of early pragmatic development in young children. These skills include two different abilities, assertiveness and responsiveness. This study investigated the development of these abilities in early implanted children and their relationships with lexical development and some language-sensitive variables. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, observational, nonrandomized study. METHODS: Participants included 28 children with congenital profound sensorineural hearing loss. The mean age at device activation was 13.3 months (standard deviation [SD] ±4.2). The Social-Conversational Skills Rating Scale was used to evaluate assertiveness and responsiveness. The MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (Words and Sentences form) was used to analyze the lexical development. The device experience was 12 months for each child, and the mean age at testing was 25.9 months (SD ±4.6). RESULTS: Assertiveness and responsiveness scores were within the normal range of normal-hearing age-matched peers. Age at cochlear implant activation exerted a significant impact, with the highest scores associated to the youngest patients. The residual correlations between assertiveness and responsiveness with the lexical development were positive and strongly significant (r = 0.69 and 0.73, respectively). Preoperative hearing threshold demonstrated an associated significant coefficient on the assertiveness score. Age at diagnosis and maternal education level were not correlated with the social conversational skills. CONCLUSIONS: Early-implanted children developed social conversational skills that are similar to normal-hearing peers matched for age 1 year after device activation. Social conversational skills and lexical development were strongly correlated, but the present study design cannot specify the direction of this relationship. Children with better preoperative residual hearing exhibited better assertive ability. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4 Laryngoscope, 126:2098-2105, 2016.

Adequate formal language performance in unilateral cochlear implanted children: is it indicative of complete recovery in all linguistic domains? Insights from referential communication.

OBJECTIVES: Referential communication (RC) is a key element in achieving a successful communication. This case series aimed to evaluate RC in children with unilateral cochlear implants (CIs) with formal language skills within the normal range. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 31 children with CIs, with language development within the normal range, were assessed using the Pragmatic Language Skills test (MEDEA). RESULTS: Of the children with CIs, 83.9% reached performance levels appropriate for their chronological ages. The results confirmed a positive effect of cochlear implantation on RC development, although difficulties remained in some CI users. CONCLUSIONS: The outcomes emphasize the need to pay greater attention to the pragmatic aspects of language, assessing them with adequate testing in the early phase after cochlear implantation. Clear knowledge of children's communicative competence is the key in optimizing their communicative environments in order to create the basis for future successful interpersonal exchanges and social integration.

Narrative abilities in early implanted children.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: To investigate the effect of age at cochlear implant activation on oral narrative ability in children implanted before 2.5 years of age and to examine the role of other variables (gender, parental education level, stimulation modality) in narrative skills. STUDY DESIGN: retrospective nonrandomized group study METHODS: Thirty children (21 females; 9 males) with congenital, bilateral severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss were included in this study. The mean age at cochlear implant activation was 14.7 months (standard deviation [SD] ± 5.3). The Renfrew Bus Story was used to analyze oral narrative skills at mean chronological age of 63 months (SD ± 0.2). RESULTS: The total information on the Renfrew Bus Story raw score ranged from 8 to 40, with a mean of 22.7 (SD ± 8.6). Children produced on average 7.5 words in a sentence (SD ± 1.5). The mean score for complexity was 2.2 (SD ± 1.5). Regression analysis revealed a highly significant and negative linear effect of age at cochlear implant activation on all outcomes. The mother's education level had a positive strong effect on sentence length but a weak effect on total information and complexity. The paternal education score had a weak influence on the sentence length. Gender, age at diagnosis, and stimulation modality were not correlated with the narrative outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Early implanted children can develop narrative skills close to normal hearing children. The sociocultural context, expressed by maternal and paternal educational level, are positively related to the development of oral narrative.

Pre-school children have better spoken language when early implanted.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were: (1) to investigate the effect of age at cochlear implantation (CI) on vocabulary development; (2) to evaluate the age effect at CI surgery on the syntactic development; and (3) to examine the role of gender, age at first diagnosis and maternal education level on spoken language development. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective study. Thirty children with congenital severe- to -profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) were sampled. They were diagnosed and fitted with hearing aids through six months of age. They were implanted between 8 and 17 months of age. The MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (MCDI) was administrated at the age of 36 months. The total productive vocabulary (word number raw score), the mean length of utterance (M3L) and the sentences complexity were analysed. RESULTS: The average word number raw score was 566.3 for the children implanted before 12 months of age versus 355 for those implanted later. The M3L was 8.3 for those implanted under 1 year versus 4.2 of those implanted later. The average sentences complexity was 82.3% for those receiving CI before 12 months, while it was 24.4% for those underwent at CI after 12 months. Regression analysis revealed a highly significant and negative linear effect of age at CI surgery on all outcomes. Females had better outcomes. Age at diagnosis was not correlated with the linguistic results. The mother's education level had a positive significant effect on sentences complexity. CONCLUSION: The CI in pre-school children with SNHL implanted under 1 year has a positive effect on spoken language. Females seem to have better linguistic results. Finally high maternal educational level appears to have some positive effect on language development.