ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
|
Year : 2014 | Volume
: 30
| Issue : 3 | Page : 237-242 |
|
Value of early intervention for hearing impairment on language and speech acquisition
Ebtessam Nada1, Ahmad Khater1, Amal Saeed2
1 Department of ENT, Audiology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt 2 Department of ENT, Phoniatric Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
Correspondence Address:
Ahmad Khater ENT Department, Phoniatric Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig Egypt
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/1012-5574.138483
|
|
Background
It is well known that early diagnosis and intervention for hearing impairment is crucial for normal development of language and speech and for a normal life in the future. This study was carried out on 58 patients suffering from sensory-neural hearing loss. They were divided into four groups:
Group A (n = 16)
Group B (n = 22)
Group C (n = 14)
Group D (n = 6).
The first three groups had severe sensory-neural hearing loss and were bilaterally amplified with hearing aids at the time of diagnosis. They were classified according to the age of amplification into group A, which included children amplified before 6 months of age, group B, which included children amplified between 6 and 12 months of age, and group C, comprising children amplified at 12-24 months of age. The last group (group D) included six children with severe to profound sensory-neural hearing loss. This group had undergone unilateral cochlear implantation. Children of this group were implanted at the age of 4 ± 1.2 years. For all children language and speech assessment was performed at school age. The results were compared among all groups.
Conclusion
Hearing intervention at the age of 6 months had the best outcome in terms of language development, even when compared with the group with late cochlear implantation. |
|
|
|
[FULL TEXT] [PDF]* |
|
|
|