Auditory perception skills in children receiving simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants: early speech-discrimination results

Purpose The objective of the present study is to evaluate early speech-perception abilities using VRISD in toddlers who received simultaneous bilateral CIs between 12 and 36 months of age and to compare them with the findings in NH infants and to monitor the development of speech-perception skills within 6 months after cochlear implantation. Methods The VRISD test was performed using video visual reinforcement to assess speech-discrimination ability in the CI and NH groups. Four stimuli were used for testing in the present study: /a/, /i/, /ba/, and /da/. The two contrasts used for the research were /a-i/ and /ba-da/. Auditory and listening skills in the CI group were assessed using the IT-MAIS. Results The responses to the /a-i/ and /ba-da/ phoneme contrast were found to be similar in the NH and CI groups. No statistically significant difference was found between the groups (p > 0.05). VRISD test result and the IT-MAIS score were highly correlated in CI group (p = 0.001, r = 0.822). Conclusion The VRISD test can be effectively used to evaluate the development of speech-discrimination skills in hearing-impaired babies before and after CI. This research suggests that the development of speech-perception ability with CI is seriously influenced by environmental exposure and sound access. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the speech-perception skills in toddlers with simultaneous bilateral CI.