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. 1997 Summer;99(4):193-202.

Reading Skills in Children with Multichannel Cochlear-lmplant Experience

Linda Spencer  1 , J Bruce Tomblin, Bruce J Gantz
Affiliations

Reading Skills in Children with Multichannel Cochlear-lmplant Experience

Linda Spencer et al. Volta Rev. 1997 Summer.

Abstract

Forty children with prelingual, profound deafness who received the Nucleus multichannel cochlear implant between the ages of 2 and 13 years participated in this study. The children had an average of 63.3 months (SD=24 months) of experience with their cochlear implants. A majority of the children used simultaneous communication and attended public-school programs at the time of testing. Reading achievement was assessed using the Paragraph Comprehension subtest of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test-Revised, Form G (1987). This study compared the reading-achievement levels of this group of cochlear-implant users with the results of previous studies of children with profound hearing losses who did not have the benefit of cochlear implants. Results indicated that nearly one half of the children in this study were reading at or within 8 months of their grade level. The reading-grade quotient of .74 was calculated based upon the slope of the regression line for the plot of years in school and reading grade-level achieved. This finding indicates that using a cochlear implant has a positive effect on reading achievement level.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Relative reading performance levels of children with cochlearimplants.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A comparison of the percentage of deaf children between Grades 4 and 12 who achieve a fourth-grade or higher reading level.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Grade level achieved on Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests-Revised, Form G. (Woodcock, 1987), plotted as a function of years in school. Regression line indicates a slope value of .74.
Figure 4
Figure 4
A comparison of the plot of years in school and reading grade achieved by cochlear-implant users with a plot of reading performance as a function of age as based on results from Krose et al. (1986) and the national norms provided on the reading subtest of the Stanford Achievement Test (Madden, Gardner, Rudman, Karlsen, & Merwin, 1972).
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