Rehabilitation

Let's Go ShoppingWhat about developingspeech and languagewith a CI?

The most important and interesting sound for your child to hear is speech. Not all children can hear speech equally well with a cochlear implant. If your child’s cochlea has no obstructions or structural abnormalities, after a few fittings it is likely that she will be able to hear speech sufficiently well to develop speech and language in the same way as a hearing child.

Now that my child is hearing, shouldn’t she develop speech quickly?Hearing isn’t the only factor affecting development of spoken language. Access to sound is necessary, but learning speech and language also involves complex processes in the brain. This is why speech and language development is hindered by developmental delays or a variety of other issues, too. These issues can be more easily detected and promptly addressed if you keep your audiologist and other specialists informed of your child’s individual progress.

How can I help my child develop speech and language?Hearing children acquire speech and language through interacting with their caregivers in the home environment. Speech is not ‘taught’ but develops over time by hearing the same words said over and over again in situations where the meaning of the words is obvious. If you say “let’s shut the door” each time you shut the door, in time, your child will associate these words with the action. Even though hearing children hear all speech sounds from birth onwards, it still takes 2-4 years for them to be able to understand and talk in sentences. This means that it will take an implanted child at least as long to do this.

Be patient and don’t expect your child to suddenly say words.

Remember the stages that hearing babies go through (briefly described here):

The typically developing child at a chronological age of…9-13 monthsShows understanding of some words and phrases; vocalizes/babbles in short syllables; eventually says first word 13-18 monthsProduces strings of babble with nonsense “words” and some real words mixed in; names things (for example, body parts or foods); begins to repeat words overheard in conversation

20-24 monthsKnows and uses own name; puts a few words together (for example, “want ball”); speech is understandable about 2/3 of the time

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Rehabilitation

Let's Go ShoppingWhat about developingspeech and languagewith a CI?

• Supportyourchild’sspeechandlanguagedevelopment in these ways:

• Talktoyourchildateveryopportunity(duringmeals,dressing, toileting and play).

• Speaktoyourchildinexactlythesamewayyouwould speak to a normally hearing child (slightly more slowly and clearly than you would with most adults).

• Ifyounoticeandtalkaboutwhatyourchildis

focused on, your child is more likely to understand what your words mean.

• Trytoinvolveyourchildinhouseholdtaskssuchasputting dirty laundry into the machine or folding and putting away clean clothes.

• Keepyourchildbusy!Whenyoudothingstogether youwillbothhavethingstosay!

• Childrenlearntotalkbypractisingtalking.Sorewardyour child’s attempts to talk by looking at him and showing you are listening.

• Earlyon,itisusefulandencouragingtothechildwhen you imitate his or her vocalizations. Later, you can add a word to what he has said (if the child says

“ball”, you say, “green ball” or “big ball”).

• Alwaystrytounderstandwhatyourchildmeansandanswer appropriately. If you cannot understand, just say,“Whatdidyousayhoney?”(Don’tsay:“Canyousay it again more clearly” because this puts unnecessary pressure and blame on the child.)

• Giveyourchildtimetothinkaboutwhatyouhavesaid. Pause and wait a few seconds before saying something else. Your child will speak more often when given this extra time to think and process. This also provides natural breaks for “turn-taking” in conversation, an important habit that develops early on.

• Putyourchild’sincompleteutterancesintosimplephrases. For example, if your child points at dog and says,“Look!Oggy.”Youcanrespondwith,“Yes,there’sadog,he’ssaying‘Woof!Woof!’”

• Trytodosomemusicalactivitieseachdaysuchasaction songs and rhymes. Musical activities encourage your child to listen more carefully, vocalize more fluently, pay attention, and imitate actions and sounds.

• Repeatthesamesongs,rhymes,andstoriesoverandover again. The more your child hears this, the more likely she is to actually learn the words and attach the right meaning to them.

Remember:Childrenlearntotalkfasterwhen they are young, so expose your child to as much meaningful language as possible, as early as possible. Make it as naturalandasfunasyoucan!

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