Family Nursing

Biography

Biography: Maria Jaquelini Dias dos Santos

Abstract

Due the safety and encouraging outcomes from auditory rehabilitation through the cochlear implant (CI), the indication process could include children with additional disabilities besides the hearing loss. One of these, are the children with cerebral palsy (CP), who have an intimate relation with hearing loss, due to some risk factors are equal for the both disabilities: hyperbilirubinemia, hypoxia, low Apgar scores. First of all, to analyze the progress of hearing and language in a group of cochlear-implanted children with cerebral palsy (CP) is necessary and holistic approach, to consider their progress in the clinical and functional domains. In this longitudinal study with four evaluations, nine cochlear-implanted children with CP participated, two to ten years old. The assessments undertaken included audiological, language and communication assessments complemented by the assessment of functional abilities and the level of independence evaluated by the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI), Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) and DENVER-II. The outcomes varied, two children achieved hearing comprehension in open-set evaluations after two years using CI. These children presented the same type of CP, athetosis, but with different functional skills and GMFCS levels (I and IV). Four children had any spoken language, respectively about GMFCS: Two level I, one level IV and one level V. A holistic view of change and development is central to understanding progress made in children with CP who received cochlear implants (CI). The functional evaluation of these children with CP is a useful tool for monitoring their progress and measuring their outcomes with CI.