Language development in Japanese children who receive cochlear implant and/or hearing aid

Abstract Objectives This study aimed to investigate a wide variety of factors that influence auditory, speech, and language development following pediatric cochlear implantation (CI). Study design Prospective collection of language tested data in profound hearing-impaired children. Hypothesis Pediatric CI can potentially be effective to development of practical communication skills and early implantation is more effective. Methods We proposed a set of language tests (assessment package of the language development for Japanese hearing-impaired children; ALADJIN) consisting of communication skills testing (test for question–answer interaction development; TQAID), comprehensive (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised; PVT-R and Standardized Comprehension Test for Abstract Words; SCTAW) and productive vocabulary (Word Fluency Test; WFT), and comprehensive and productive syntax (Syntactic processing Test for Aphasia; STA). Of 638 hearing-impaired children recruited for this study, 282 (44.2%) with >70 dB hearing impairment had undergone CI. After excluding children with low birth weight (11 points on the Pervasive Developmental Disorder ASJ Rating Scale for the test of autistic tendency, and those