Disproportionate Language Impairment in Children Using Cochlear Implants

In Brief Objectives: To examine the nature of previously unexplained, severe language impairments in some children using a cochlear implant (CI). Design: Six prelingually deaf children with unexplained, “disproportionate” language problems (DLI group) were matched to Control children on etiology, age at implantation, and CI experience. All children completed a test battery used to identify specific language impairment in normally hearing children. Results: Despite equivalent performance IQ, significant differences were found between the DLI and Control children on all five language tests. Conclusions: Language difficulties experienced by some children using a CI seem to be additional to those produced by their deafness and may reflect the same, predominantly inherited basis as specific language impairment. Some children who have used cochlear implants for several years continue to have severe language impairments relative to their peers. In this study, we compared the performance of these children, who we term ‘disproportionate language impairment’ (DLI), with a carefully, case-controlled matched sample. Performance of each group on a test battery used to identify specific language impairment (SLI) in normally hearing children revealed significant differences between the DLI and Control children. We suggest that the DLI experienced by some CI using children may be additional to their deafness, reflecting the same, predominantly inherited basis as SLI.