An Evolution of Communication Modalities: Very Young Cochlear Implant Users who Transitioned from Sign to Speech During the First Years of Use.

The communication modalities used, and the articulation and aural-only receptive vocabulary skills were investigated in 19 prelingually profoundly deaf infants who initially utilized Total Communication and who were implanted between the ages of 12 and 29m. Results revealed the children overwhelmingly tended to use voice only modality for an expressive task. Additionally articulation and receptive vocabulary skills approached those of normal hearing peers. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future studies are provided.