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The authors have studied a population of 21 pre-lingually deaf children equipped with a cochlear implant for at least 24 months. Their linguistic progression after implantation has been compared with the standard language development in normally hearing children, using a model published by Marie Therese Le Normand in 1996. 3 types of development can be distinguished: Profile 1 (shown by 9 children) in which language development after implantation is rapid and homogeneous: profile 2 (shown by 8 children), in which it is slower and more heterogeneous, with a longer pre-linguistic phase; Profile 3 (shown by 3 children) in which there are diverse problems with development. The authors then searched to establish the influence of the age at implantation and the mode of communication on this development.

Cochlear implants have greatly been developed on last ten years. Their diversity makes their use and choice more complex. The authors expose simply the physiopathology of the implanted auditory system and basic principles of cochlear implants. Cochlear implants are caracterised by the number of channels and electrodes (monochannel, multichannel), the strategy of encoding (analogiq, digital), the transmission of signal (per-cutaneous, electro-magnetic induction), the site of stimulation (extra or intra-cochlear), the signal wave (sinusoid, pulse), the diffusion of current (monopolar, bipolar).