Reading abilities of adolescents with cochlear implants: the role of early speech perception in a longitudinal study.

Objective: To examine reading skills of adolescents who use cochlear implants (CIs) and who were implanted early. Three questions are asked: (1) Do these pediatric CI recipients read at age-appropriate levels at adolescence, as they had done at elementary-ages (Grantham et al. [2022]. Effects of segmental and suprasegmental speech perception on reading in pediatric cochlear implant recipients. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 65(9), 3583-3594. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00035 )? (2) Are the previously documented effects of early segmental and suprasegmental speech perception on elementary-age reading skills obtained for adolescent reading skills? (3) Do the effects on adolescent reading differ for early speech perception versus elementary-age speech perception?

Design: Eighty-six orally educated children with a mean age of CI of 2 years completed a standardized reading comprehension test at elementary ages (7-11 years) and at adolescent ages (11-16 years). They completed speech perception tests when they were 5-9 years old (early) and again at 7-11 years of age (elementary-age). Reading comprehension scores from elementary and adolescent ages were compared, and the effects of early and elementary-age speech perception on adolescent reading were examined.

Results: The mean reading passage comprehension standard score was within the normative range for typically hearing age-mates at both elementary-age and adolescent testing. Early suprasegmental speech perception was the only significant speech perception predictor of adolescent reading skills, after controlling for demographic and audiological variables.

Conclusions: These data bolster the recent literature reporting good reading skills, on average, for children who received early CIs and highlight the long-term benefits of good early suprasegmental speech perception skills. Both segmental and suprasegmental perception should be included in audiological candidacy criteria and educational intervention for children with CIs.