Influence of family environment on the development of speech and language in prelingually deaf children after cochlear implantation

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of family environment on the development of speech and language in pre-school children after cochlear implantation. METHODS: A total of 88 pre-lingually deaf children, aged 2-5 years, who received cochlear implantation, were included in this study. All families completed a self-report family environment questionnaire (FES). The deaf children's linguistic progress was assessed by Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP) and Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR) at 0, 3, 6 and 12 months after implantation. RESULTS: The family environment was the significant factor associated with CAP and SIR at 6 months post-implantation. The children in families with higher levels of Cohesion, Intellectual-Cultural Orientation and the ability to express emotion effectively had better auditory and speech abilities, while children in families with low intimacy and high incompatibility exhibited a delay in the development of auditory speech (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The development of speech and language in pre-lingually deaf children after cochlear implantation can be influenced by family environment and parents' roles.