Oral communication and auditory skills of hearing impaired children and adolescents and the speech therapy rehabilitation process

ABSTRACT Purpose: to analyze auditory and oral communication behaviors in a group of children and adolescents, users of cochlear implants and to establish a relationship with factors that interfere with aural rehabilitation. Methods: participants were 13 children or adolescents with profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Standardized procedures were applied to check: the auditory and oral communication behaviors of participants and their relationships with the child's age at diagnosis period; the interval between diagnosis and intervention, adaptation onset of the cochlear implant; the hearing age and aural rehabilitation period. Results: statistically significant data were found to correlate the interval between diagnosis and intervention with the scores in the evaluation procedures of oral communication. Conclusion: there was a significant impact on the development of oral communication when the period elapsed between the diagnosis and intervention was analyzed, in such way that the faster the intervention time, the better the results. It was also evident that the earlier the beginning of the use of cochlear implants, the greater the hearing age, and the longer the rehabilitation period, the better the scores in the procedures that evaluated auditory and verbal development.