Communication skills in preschool children with normal hearing and cochlear implant users

Pragmatic language development encompasses a range of skills that are necessary for communication to take place, such as initiating and maintaining communication, following rules and taking turns, but these skills can take time to develop in children with hearing loss. The aim of this study was to compare the communication skills of 5-6-year-old children with normal hearing and cochlear implant users. The study included 7 females and 14 males aged 60-72 months (M: 68.66±4.27) with cochlear implants and 8 females and 16 males aged 60-72 months (M: 68.41±4.65) with normal hearing. Responses to the 5-6 Years Communication Skills Scale, consisting of 4 subfactors and 46 items, were collected from the parents of all children. The mean scores of the 4 sub-dimensions of the scale, namely active communication, consideration, following rules and positive response, and the mean total score of the children with normal hearing were significantly higher than their peers with cochlear implants (p<0.05). In conclusion, it is important to evaluate hearing-impaired children not only for language development but also for development in all stages of communication, especially in the pragmatic aspect.