Cochlear implants offer an effective technical solution for deaf individuals. Yet, the auditory input they provide remains more limited than typical hearing, particularly in the spectral domain. This talk will explore how these limitations impact language development in deaf toddlers and young children with bilateral implants during their sensitive phase of language acquisition.

I will present recent and prior electrophysiological findings from our studies, focusing on various stages of speech sound processing and, ultimately, word comprehension. Particular focus is placed on congenitally deaf children, whose exclusive reliance on cochlear implants results in consistently noisier auditory input throughout their language acquisition compared to typically hearing peers.

This research aims to illuminate if and how early periods of deafness during the critical phase of language acquisition, coupled with degraded auditory input, influence developmental language milestones and how these outcomes compare to those observed in typically hearing children.