A Case Report on Infant Aural Rehabilitation Using Korean Auditory, Language, and Cognitive Rehabilitation for Infants

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to report the effectiveness and significance of aural rehabilitation using the Korean Auditory, language, and cognitive Rehabilitation for Infants (KARI) program. The KARI program was administered to an infant diagnosed with hearing loss at 9 months of age. A total of 45 KARI sessions were conducted for 13 months. Four developmental areas, auditory, language and social communication, overall and vocal and articulatory were evaluated at 10, 15, and 18 months of age for initial, progress, and final tests. After aural rehabilitation with KARI, in the area of auditory development, the infant showed normal range. In the area of language and social communication, the infant exhibited normal receptive language and non-verbal communication skills but showed significant delays in speech due to the diagnosed submucous cleft palate. In the area of overall developmental screening, Korean Developmental Screening Test for Infants & Children scores were at peer level in cognition and social skills. However, gross motor, fine motor, language, and self-help skills were in the range of needing further testing. In the areas of vocalization and articulation, vocalization showed normal range, but articulation development showed delayed development. Although development of expressive language and articulation was delayed due to submucous cleft palate, the overall results showed good progression with KARI in other areas. Therefore, it is hoped that the KARI would be used to promote aural rehabilitation for the infants with hearing impaired.