| Studying a twin with bilateral cochlear implants offers an interesting opportunity to expand our understanding of the impact of having a double risk factor for language development - being a twin and having a hearing loss. In the following case study I examined the language development of a single pair of fraternal twins - one with a profound, sensorineural hearing loss who received simultaneous bilateral cochlear implants at one year of age, and the other with normal hearing. The purpose of the study was to compare the twins' language development at age 2. Implanted at the age of one year, the expectation is that the deaf twin's progress would be closer to that of her sister.;Findings suggest that simultaneous bilateral implantation at early-onset assists in the development of age-appropriate language and the potential for age-appropriate progress. A further implication refutes claims of slower language performance in twins. |
