Evaluation of the relationship between play behavior, vocabulary and language development in children with EARLY cochlear implants

In this study, the aim is children who started to use cochlear implants in the early period were investigated to evaluate the relationship between play behaviors, vocabulary and language development and to compare it with the children in the normal hearing control group. In the study group, 21 children with cochlear implants between the ages of 4;00 and 6;11 a total of 42 children, including 21 children with normal hearing and age matched in the control group, were included in the study on a voluntary basis. In the study, the TODİL test to evaluate the language skills of the participants, the Turkish expressive and receptive language test (TİFALDİ) to evaluate the vocabulary, f or evaluate the play behavior skills, evaluated by the teachers of the participants the 36-71-month-old Children's Play behavior scale and Functioning After Pediatric Cochlear Implantation (FAPCI) form was used for only using the cochlear implant childrens the families to be filled. When the findings obtained at the end of the study were analyzed, it was observed that TODİL scale scores were higher in the control group on the basis of all sub-dimensions (p=0.01, p>0.05). TODİL it was determined that the resultant performance levels of listening, organizing, speaking, grammar, semantics and oral language were lower in the study group (p=0.01, p<0.05). TIFALDI Receptive and expressive language vocabulary acquisition levels were found to be lower in the study group (p=0.01, p<0.05). It was observed that the general scores of the game behavior scale, quiet behavior, alone play, parallel play and rough play were at similar levels between the two groups (p>0.05). Differently, in terms of social play levels, it was seen that the social play levels of the students in the study group were lower than the control group (p=0.02, p<0.05). In line with these analyzes, while a significant difference was found between the study group and the control group in terms of vocabulary and language skills, no significant difference was found between the two groups for game behavior scale levels. As a result, although the behaviors of the children in both groups participating in the study in the play environment were similar, it was found that the social play levels of the children in the study group were lower. However, it was observed that the children of the study group achieved lower scores in terms of vocabulary and language development than their peers with normal hearing despite the early cochlear implant application. Keywords: Cochlear Implant, Play Behavior, Vocabulary, TODİL, TIFALDİ, FAPCI, Language Development