Bimodal speech perception in infant hearing aid and cochlear implant users

Objectives: To determine the feasibility of replicating prior bimodal perception findings with hearing-impaired infants during their preimplant, hearing aid trial, and postimplant experiences; secondarily, to determine the point in development at which these infants were able to match phonetic information in the lips and voice for the vowels /a/ and /i/. Methods: A total of 10 infants with hearing loss, aged 4 to 24 months, were assessed at least once prior to cochlear implantation and previous to implant stimulation. The Split-Screen Preferential Looking Procedure was used to evaluate the bimodal perception skills of these infants. Results: Examples of individual bimodal perception data and preliminary group data are presented. A difference in performance across preimplant and postimplant test sessions was noted for the individuals and the group. Conclusion: These data provide evidence that the infants' audibility levels were improved by their cochlear implants, which may have contributed to their evolving ability to match phonetic information in the lips and voice.