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Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education Advance Access originally published online on October 27, 2007
The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 2008 13(2):215-224; doi:10.1093/deafed/enm053
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Motor Development of Deaf Children With and Without Cochlear Implants

Freja Gheysen

Ghent University

Gerrit Loots

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Ghent University

Hilde Van Waelvelde

Ghent University


  Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a cochlear implant (CI) on the motor development of deaf children. The study involved 36 mainstreamed deaf children (15 boys, 21 girls; 4- to 12-years old) without any developmental problems. Of these children, 20 had been implanted. Forty-three hearing children constituted a comparison group. Motor development was assessed by three standardized tests: the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, the Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder, and the One-leg standing test. Results showed that the hearing children performed on average significantly better than the deaf children (whether or not using a CI). Regarding the use of a CI, there was only a significant difference on one subtest between both groups, although there was a nonsignificant trend for the deaf +CI group to score somewhat worse on average than the deaf –CI group. This led to some significant differences between the hearing group and the deaf +CI group on measures requiring balance that did not hold for the hearing/deaf –CI comparison. Although this study could demonstrate neither a positive nor a negative impact of CI on balance and motor skills, the data raise the need for further, preferably longitudinal, research.

Correspondence should be sent to Gerrit Loots, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium (e-mail: gerrit.loots{at}vub.ac.be).

Received March 18, 2007; revised September 23, 2007; accepted September 26, 2007


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