The Effectiveness of Training Neuropsychological Skills on Executive Function in Deaf Students with Cochlear Implants: A Single-Subject Research

Abstract

Introduction: Children with cochlear implants, due to previous hearing deprivation, have damages in the areas of neuropsychological skills, including their executive functions. Since the executive functions are linked with a range of skills such as speech, language, communication, and education, this research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of training neuropsychological skills on executive function problems in deaf students with cochlear implants. Materials and Methods: This study was a single-subject research with A-B design. The study population consisted of all deaf children with cochlear implants at the age of 6 to 12 years in Isfahan City, Iran. Among them, 5 were selected using purposive sampling method. The research instrument was the Connors Neuropsychological Questioner. To analyze the obtained data, after drawing the diagrams, we used visual analyses, trending, and stability, as well as percentages of non-overlapping and overlapping data. Results: The mean scores of 5 subjects decreased from 62.47, 58.12, 61.19, 61.46, and 59.61 at the baseline to 48.22, 51.21, 49.30, 49.74, and 50.94 at the end of intervention, respectively. According to the visual analyses of the data diagrams, the intervention was effective on the studied subjects. The percentage of non-overlapping data in the two baseline and intervention situations for the subjects was 90%, 70%, 90%, 100%, and 80%. This effectiveness was observable in the follow-up stage. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, we can judge that training neuropsychological skills reduce executive function problems in deaf students with cochlear implans, and this approach can be used in the training and rehabilitation centers of children with cochlear implants.