Non-verbal development of children with deafness with and without cochlear implants

Abstract

Deprivation of sensory input affects neurological development. Our objective was to explore clinically the role of hearing in development of sensorimotor integration and non-verbal cognition. The study involved 54 children (15 males, 839 females; 5 to 9 years old) with severe or profound bilateral prelocutive deafness but without neurological or cognitive impairment. Of these, 25 had received an early cochlear implant (CIm). Patients were compared with 40 children with normal hearing. All were given a battery of non-verbal neuropsychological tests and a balance test, and were timed for simple and complex movement of limbs. Deafness, whether treated by CIm or not, resulted in a delay in development of complex motor sequences and balance. Lack of auditory input was also associated with lower, but non-pathological, scores in visual gnoso-praxic tasks and sustained attention. Such differences were not observed in children with CIm. Hearing contributes to clinical development of spatial integration, motor control, and attention. An early CIm enables good verbal development and might also improve non-verbal capacities.

Motor performance and correlates of mental health in children who are deaf or hard of hearing

“…The finding that children with hearing impairment have greatly increased levels of motor incoordination across all ZNA subscales compared with hearing children agrees closely with most earlier findings, 5,7,8,13 and is for the first time, to our knowledge, based upon a representative sample.…”

“…Impairments of vestibular functioning after implantation are argued as damage caused by surgical trauma or indirect electrical stimulation; others state only temporary dysfunctions or describe long-term positive benefits on motor performance. 5,7,8 While in one study motor deficits in children with hearing impairment were not related to age, 5 Kammerer 9 found that neurological soft signs (mainly associated movements) were not less pronounced in older children. Others showed a negative correlation between fine motor skills and age.…”

“…These studies used a variety of instruments and were based on samples that may not have been representative of the population of children with hearing impairment. 5,[7][8][9] Studies reporting normal levels of motor development were based on parent questionnaires (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales) and had no direct motor examination. 10,11 Livingstone and McPhillips showed that about 80% of 25 children with a bilateral hearing impairment >60dB (mean age 8y 8mo) scored in the bottom 15% (borderline) and about 50% in the bottom 5% (definite problems) of the standardized sample of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children.…”

Achieving Developmental Synchrony in Young Children With Hearing Loss

“…• Differences have been consistently documented in children with hearing loss in the areas of balance, complex motor sequencing, sensory, and vestibular processing (Cushing, Papsin, Rutka, James, & Gordon, 2008;Schlumberger, Narbona, & Manrique, 2004;Suarez et al, 2007). …”

Relations between nonverbal cognitive ability and spoken language development : implications for deaf toddlers who use cochlear implants.

“…The children's communication mode was not reported, but the time period of the study suggests that the children were probably using analog hearing aids and lip reading to aid their oral language development. Another study found that deaf children who used cochlear implants exhibited a delay in the development of motor sequencing and balance compared to hearing children (Schlumberger, Narbona, & Manrique, 2004). The authors also compared performance of a group of deaf children who used hearing aids, and they performed worse than both the hearing children and the deaf children who used cochlear implants.…”