Objective The aim of this study is to summarize preverbal communication skills in children with cochlear implants,and to provide a clinical baseline of assessment in early stage after cochlear implantation.Methods 23 prelingually deaf children with homebred cochlear implants participated in this study.The age at cochlear im-plantation ranged from 12 to 66 months with a mean of 35 months.The evaluation was performed at switch-on ses-sion and 1,3,6,9 and 12 months after the first programming session.Tait video analysis was used to assess the preverbal communication skills including turn-taking,autonomy,eye contact and auditory awareness.CAP and SIR were used to evaluate the auditory and speech abilities.ResuIts The skills of turn-taking and auditory aware-ness increased significantly,especially in the first six months after switch-on session (P<0.05).The scores of autonomy and eye contact were relative low and there were no significant differences during the first year after surgery (P>0. 05).There was a correlation between the score of CAP/SIR and turn-taking or auditory awareness.ConcIusion Children with cochlear implants established vocal-auditory mode of early communicative behavior over time.Pre-verbal communication skills CAP and SIR have relativity and can comprehensively evaluate the auditory,speech and communication skills of children with cochlear implants.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to analyze the development of musicality in children after cochlear implantation, and provide a clinical database for the evaluation of their musicality. METHOD: Twenty-six children with cochlear implants (CI group) participated in this research. They received cochlear implants at the age of 11 to 68 months with a mean of 35.6 months. Seventy-six infants as a control group aged from 1 to 24 months with a mean of 6.1 months participated in this study, whose hearing were considered normal by passing the case history collection, high-risk registers for hearing loss and hearing screening using DPOAE. The music and young children with CIs: Musicality Rating Scale was used to evaluate their musicality. The evaluation was performed before cochlear implantation and 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24 months after cochlear implantation for children with cochlear implants. The evaluation was also performed at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24 months for children with normal hearing. RESULT: The mean scores of musicality showed significant improvements with time of CI use for CI group (P<0.05). The mean scores of musicality also showed significant improvements with time for control group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in mean scores between CI group and control group at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 months of hearing age by rank sum test (P>0.05). Significant difference was noted between the two groups at 24 months (P<0.05). CONCLUSION The musicality of children with cochlear implants improved significantly with time after cochlear implantation. The most rapid growth was found in the first year after cochlear implantation.
Child Development ; Child, Preschool ; Cochlear Implantation ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Music ; Postoperative Period