Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefits of aural rehabilitation on the development of cognition, social communication, and motor skills in children with cochlear implants.
Methods: The study examined the development of cognition, social communication, and motor skills in 15 deaf children (7 males, 8 females; mean age 45 months 27 days) using the Newsha Developmental Scale before they received the cochlear implants, and then again 2, 4, 6, and 8 months after the implantation. The developmental age, Pretest Developmental Rate, Intervention Efficiency Index, and Proportional Change Index were calculated for each skill.
Results: There were significant differences between the preintervention and four follow-up Developmental Rate assessments for cognition, social communication, and motor skills (P < 0.0001). Significant differences were also observed between the four follow-up Proportional Change Index assessments for cognition, social communication, and motor skills (P ≤ 0.005).
Conclusion: Cochlear implantation and aural rehabilitation may result in accelerated rates of cognition, social communication, and motor skill development in deaf children.
Keywords: Aural rehabilitation; Cochlear implant; Cognition; Motor; Social communication.