Language Associations with Literacy Achievement in Children with Cochlear Implants

In order to succeed in normal academic environments, reading is a critical skill for children to develop (Catts, Fey, Proctor-Williams, 2000; Musselman, 2000). Unfortunately, literacy development is often delayed in children with hearing impairment (Harris & Beech, 1998). The purpose of this research was to advance the understanding of language and speech variables that predict literacy acquisition in children with cochlear implants. Participants in this study included children with severe or profound hearing impairments, ages 6;4-8;11 who received their cochlear implant before 3 years and 6 months of age. A battery of language, cognitive, reading, spelling and speech reading tests was administered at the University of Tennessee’s Child Hearing Services. Results, although limited by a small sample size (n=5) found elision (eliminating a syllable or phoneme in a word) to be associated with basic reading skills, as measured by the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised (Woodcock, 1998). Further research is necessary to expand this pilot study. Skills that were not associated with basic reading ability included vocabulary development, rapid naming, speech reading and spelling.