Speech perception results for children implanted with the CLARION® cochlear implant at the Medical University of Hannover

The perception of speech of 167 children implanted with a CLARION(R) Multi-Strategy(TM) Cochlear Implant (1.2 device) was evaluated preimplantation and at 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months postimplantation. The children were between 15 months and 15 years of age. The test materials consisted of 8 tests involving syllable structure, single- and 2-syllable words, differentiation of word pairs, and sentences. Two difficulty levels were used, depending on developmental age (<7, and 7 to 15 years). There was an improvement in test scores over time for both age groups. The younger children (particularly those under age 4) improved steadily over the first 2 years, while the older children tended to plateau between 12 and 18 months after implantation. These findings demonstrate that deaf children up to 15 years old benefit from cochlear implants. Children under 4 years of age may even have the ability to compensate for delays in speech development before they reach school age.