Effect of early intervention in hearing-impaired children under 12 months of age

Abstract

This study was designed to examine the effect of entry age of intervention in congenital hearing-impaired children, who had participated in an auditory-oral early intervention program. According to age at entry into the program, we divided the 39 children into three groups: a group of 6 early identified children (entry age: 5-11 months), a group of 19 children with entry ages of 15-22 months, and a group of 14 children with entry ages of 24-34 months. The hearing loss averages of these children ranged from 80 to 115 dB. We measured their language abilities using the WPPSI Intelligence Test at 6 years of age, and using the WISC III Intelligence Test after 6 years of age (range: 7-15 years). There were no significant differences in hearing loss degrees or performance IQ scores on the two intelligence tests among the three groups. The verbal IQ scores on the two tests were related to the entry ages in the intervention program. Children enrolled in the program under 12 months demonstrated significantly better verbal IQ scores on the two tests than children enrolled after 24 months of age. The results of this study provided clear evidence of the benefit of early intervention on the development of language abilities in hearing-impaired children under 12 months of age.