Performance of deaf children with cochlear implants and vibrotactile aids.
A longitudinal study is under way to examine the speech perception and production skills of deaf children who use a single- or multi-channel cochlear implant, or a two-channel tactile aid. The speech perception data showed that the majority of subjects who achieved the highest scores on a range of measures used the multi-channel cochlear implant. The production data showed that all three types of sensory aids were effective in promoting production skills, with the cochlear implant users showing the greatest gains in this area.