A comparative study on auditory perception of environmental sounds by normal hearing and unilateral cochlear implant children

Abstract

Accurate identification of environmental sounds may lead to better speech perception because properties of sound coming from the environment contain lot of information. It also provides comprehensive assessment of sensory input in early stage of life. The present study was aimed to compare the recognition of environmental-sounds by normal hearing children and children using unilateral cochlear implants in auditory-alone condition. 30 subjects participated in this study which was divided into two groups. Group I consist of 15 normal hearing children with age range of 3-5 years. Group II consists of 15 children using unilateral cochlear implants with an auditory experience of minimum 3years of daily implant use. 20 environmental sounds belonging to different categories such as animal, human, vehicle, mechanical & nature served as the test tool. The findings of this study revealed that Children using cochlear implant obtained lower mean percentage values compared to children with normal hearing. Environmental sound perception ability in cochlear implant children was poorer than normal hearing children. The ability to perceive environmental sounds are often unappreciated and largely unexplored.