SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE FACTORS INFLUENCING LITERACY RATES IN

CHILDREN WITH COCHLEAR IMPLANTS AND HEARING AIDS

Riley O’Neill

RESEARCH QUESTION

What are the primary factors influencing literacy

development in individuals with cochlear implants and/or

hearings aids?

BACKGROUND

• Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH)

• Cochlear Implant (CI)

• Hearing Aid (HA)

BACKGROUND

• DHH often fail to develop literacy

• Issue currently at field’s forefront

• Nittrourer et al. found early implantation important (2012)

• Castellanos et al. found preschool skills predictive (2014)

BACKGROUND

• Age of Initial Device Implementation

• User Compliancy

• Pre-school literacy intervention

REASONING

• Lack of comprehensive studies

• Accuracy lost to feasibility

• Individual factors examined

• Personal experiences as camp counselor

HYPOTHESIS

Age of initial device implementation, user compliancy, and pre-school

literacy education will have a greater influence on literacy development

in children with cochlear implants (CIs) and/or hearing aids (HAs) than

factors traditionally considered influential in literacy intervention.

MATERIALS

• Paper (5 reams)

• Internet

• Microsoft Excel

• Ink (2 Cartridges)

• Gasoline

METHODS

Systematic Review

• Established research question

• Determined eligibility criterion

• Searched for previous studies (25)

• Collected data in extraction form

METHODS

• Found most frequent factors

• Performed statistical analyses

• Chi Square Test

RESULTS

Primary Influential

Factors

Age of Device

Implementation

Communication Mode Preschool Literacy

Intervention

# of Studies

Identifying the

Factor as Influential

7 6 13

• Differences between the factors not significant

• p = 0.1918

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Age of device

implementation

Communication mode Pre-school intervention

Nu

mb

er

of

Ide

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fic

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Factors

Primary Factors Influencing Literacy in Children with

Cochlear Implants and/or Hearing Aids

RESULTS

Literacy

Intervention

Influential Factors

Letter Knowledge/

Letter-Sound

Recognition

Phonological

Awareness

Spoken Language

Skills (expressive;

vocabulary)

# of Studies

Identifying the

Factor as Influential

2 8 7

• Differences between the factors not significant

• p = 0.1608

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Letter knowledge/Letter-

sound recognition

Phonological awareness Spoken language skills

(expressive vocabulary;

intelligibility)

Nu

mb

er

of

Ide

nti

fic

ati

on

s

Factor

Literacy Intervention Factors Identified as Influential in the

Literacy of Children with Cochlear Implants and/or

Hearing Aids

CONCLUSIONS

• No factors more influential than others

• Hypothesis not supported

• Trends demonstrate importance of critical periods

• Communication mode’s influence

• Indicates further research needed

CONCLUSIONS

• User compliancy not examined

• Relation to length of use

• Recommend professionals emphasize these factors

IMPROVEMENTS

• Sample from larger number of studies

• More time

• More access

• More assistance

FUTURE RESEARCH

• Further testing hypothesis in fall of 2015

• Meta-analysis of these studies’ results

• Case study analysis with GA data

• Examination of communication mode’s influence on literacy

INTERNATIONAL RELEVANCE

• DHH individuals in all countries

• Non-education factors important for LDCs

• All factors, especially education, important for MDCs

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Much thanks to

• Dr. Abby Bohler

• Jennifer Johnson

• Camp Chatterbox

• Cindy O’Neill

• ASR 2B

REFERENCES

• Castellanos, I., Kronenberger, W. G., Beer, J., Henning, S. C., Colson, B. G., & Pisoni, D. B. (2014). Preschool

Speech Intelligibility and Vocabulary Skills Predict Long-Term Speech and Language Outcome Following

Cochlear Implantation in Early Childhood. Cochlear Implants International, 15 (4), 200-210. doi:

10.1179/1754762813Y.00000000043. Retrieved from PubMed Central online database:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

/?term=Preschool+Speech+Intelligibility+and+Vocabulary+Skills+Predict+Long-

Term+Speech+and+Language+Outcome+Following+Cochlear+Implantation+in+Early+Childhood.

• Child with Cochlear Implant [Photography]. (N.p.). Retrieved from

www.speechbuddy.com/blog/news/study-shows-timing-is-critical-for-cochlear-implants/.

• Child with Hearing Aid [Photography]. (N.p.). Retrieved from www.hearing.com.au/hearing-aid-safety/.

• Nittrourer, S., Caldwell, A., Lowenstein, J.H., Tarr, E., & Holloman, C. (2012). Emergent Literacy in

Kindergartners with Cochlear Implants. Ear Hear, 33 (6), 683-697. doi: 10.10971AUD.0b013e3182528c98e.

Retrieved from PubMed Central online database: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22572795.