Eight young children with prelingual deafness were tested with the Phonetic Level Evaluation (PLE) before receiving a cochlear implant and four times afterward. Correlations between the PLE and spontaneous speech measures were weak, suggesting that performance on the PLE has low predictive value for vowel and diphthong production during…

The project developed a computer-based auditory training program for adult hearing-aid users and cochlear implant recipients, to evaluate three types of training stimuli: syllables with a reduced number of features, syllables with amplified features, and natural speech. Described are the training stimuli, training station, and training activities.…

Prelinguistically deafened children (n=28) with cochlear implants performed imitative and structured spontaneous sampling speech tasks. Results found children who had used implants for at least two years acquired some intelligible speech; children who received implants before five years of age showed greater benefit than later recipients; and…

A communication training program for parents of new cochlear implant users includes an assessment of parents' communication behaviors using the Communication Index for Parents, a parent seminar, a home-training program, and a parent library. Speech and listening diaries, completed by parents at regular intervals, provide information to guide…