Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether the quality of parental language input in the home environment relates to the degree of hearing impairment in children with prelingual hearing loss. The secondary aim was to explore whether the number of signs used by the parent relates to the quality of parental spoken language input.
Methods: In a cross-sectional study twenty-nine children with cochlear implants or hearing aids, aged three and four, and their parents were included. Parents made video-recordings of interaction situations with their child in their home environment. Correlations were calculated between the quality of parental language input (Vocabulary Diversity and Facilitative Language Techniques) and children’s degree of hearing loss. Second, correlations were calculated between parental use of signs and parental spoken language input.
Results: Parents of children with more profound hearing loss, and therefore often the children with cochlear implants, show less variation in the use of words, and less complex communication techniques than parents of children with a milder hearing loss, despite good hearing rehabilitation (with hearing aids or cochlear implants). Furthermore, parental use of signs appear to be negatively associated with the level of complexity of communication techniques. No associations were found between parental vocabulary diversity and number of signs.
Conclusion: Parents of children with well rehabilitated profound hearing loss may need additional confirmation that their child’s hearing is adequate with their hearing device: this may stimulate parents to increase the quality of their spoken language input for these children. Rehabilitation protocols should be based on rehabilitated hearing loss and not (only) on the initial hearing loss.

**Objectives:** The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether the quality of parental language input in the home environment relates to the degree of hearing impairment in children with prelingual hearing loss. The secondary aim was to explore whether the number of signs used by the parent relates to the quality of parental spoken language input.
**Methods:** In a cross-sectional study twenty-nine children with cochlear implants or hearing aids, aged three and four, and their parents were included. Parents made video-recordings of interaction situations with their child in their home environment. Correlations were calculated between the quality of parental language input (Vocabulary Diversity and Facilitative Language Techniques) and children’s degree of hearing loss. Second, correlations were calculated between parental use of signs and parental spoken language input.
**Results:** Parents of children with more profound hearing loss, and therefore often the children with cochlear implants, show less variation in the use of words, and less complex communication techniques than parents of children with a milder hearing loss, despite good hearing rehabilitation (with hearing aids or cochlear implants). Furthermore, parental use of signs appear to be negatively associated with the level of complexity of communication techniques. No associations were found between parental vocabulary diversity and number of signs.
**Conclusion:** Parents of children with well rehabilitated profound hearing loss may need additional confirmation that their child’s hearing is adequate with their hearing device: this may stimulate parents to increase the quality of their spoken language input for these children. Rehabilitation protocols should be based on rehabilitated hearing loss and not (only) on the initial hearing loss.

Preliminary Associations Between Degree of Hearing Loss and Quality of Parental Language Input

It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm, that on behalf of the Cochlear Implant centers of the Radboud UMC in Nijmegen and Erasmus MC Sophia Children’s Hospital in Rotterdam to invite you to attend the 16th European Symposium on Pediatric Cochlear Implantation to Rotterdam, the Netherlands in 2023.

Yours sincerely, on behalf of the CI Centers at Radboud UMC and Erasmus MC,