Early Intervention for Children with Hearing Impairment: Assessment of Communication Abilities

Background & Objectives: With the expansion of the Newborn Hearing Screening System to include younger ages, children with hearing impairments are receiving earlier intervention treatment as infants and toddlers. To properly assess the development of such young children, the assessment of communication abilities requires special considerations. The purpose of this study was to verify that selected tests in three communication areas (speech perception, speech and language, and interaction) are able to assess and monitor communicative development of children in an early intervention program. Methods: The communication abilities of ten toddlers with hearing impairment were measured at three different times, pre-intervention and 6 months and 12 months after intervention. The tests in each area are as follows: CAP, IT-MAIS, pattern perception, sound detection, and word identification for speech perception, MUSS, SELSI, MCDI-K, phonetic inventory, and voice evaluation for speech and language, and communication intention and attitude analysis for interaction. Repeated measures one-way ANOVA were performed on the results. Results: In all evaluated areas, the testes were able to identify statistically significant differences in communication abilities over time. With the exception of the speech perception test, there was no ceiling or floor effect to prevent progress monitoring. Three toddlers at 12 months reached the maximum point value in the speech perception test. Discussion & Conclusion: The tests in three communication areas identified performance differences over time, showing they can be used to effectively assess and monitor the development of communication abilities in young children with hearing impairment. However, several results also showed the limitations of these tests.