Browsing by Subject "vinkkipuhe"

Aims. Cochlear implant is a device that provides a sense of sound by electric stimulation of the inner ear hair cells and the auditory nerve. This technology enables the acquisition of spoken language to children who are severely hard of hearing, however, there exists a wide range of variation in language outcomes. Language skills can also develop unevenly in different language subdomains. In most cases, the morphosyntactic sub-skills have been shown a delayed development. This can be due to the perceptual problems that continue to be present despite the cochlear implant, because the cochlear implant does not provide normal hearing. Cued Speech allows access to the complete phonological representations of speech and may then improve the learning of morphosyntactic regularities. The aim of this study is to analyze morphosyntactic skills in Finnish children with cochlear implants in cross-sectional setting and discuss the benefits of Cued Speech in the development of these skills. In addition, parents' experiences and attitudes towards Cued Speech are also surveyed. Methods. Four children with severe hearing loss fitted with cochlear implants and exposed to Cued Speech participated. A video material (30 min) was recorded for the study using semi-structured play setting, where the child interacted with his/her parent. The material was analyzed by using the Finnish version of the Index of Productive Syntax (IPSyn), through which the grammatical complexity of spontaneous speech can be assessed. Results were compared with the development of morphosyntax of normally hearing children and with the IPSyn scores of normally hearing children presented in literature. During data collection details of the use of Cued Speech was surveyed from the parent by a paper questionnaire. Results and conclusions. The morphosyntactic abilities of the children using cochlear implants were mainly at the comparative level as that hearing age mates. These results may be explained by the use of Cued Speech but also by many other factors that were not excluded in this study. Nonetheless, the good morphosyntactic abilities of the children along with parent satisfaction with the use of Cued Speech support clinical decision making when different rehabilitation choices to children with hearing impairment are considered.