A research team at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia is working to develop an app called GetTalking, to help children with cochlear implants learn to talk, according to an article in The Register. 

The app—which is expected to run on an iPad device—will provide a visual reward for speaking to the baby using it, and is intended to be used as a supportive tool for parents and speech therapists, the article says.

The project is currently being funded by the National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL), and is still in the development stages. The full research team include Swinburne staff Rachael McDonald, Belinda Barnet, Leon Sterling, Jordy Kaufman, Simone Taffe, and Carolyn Barnes and National Acoustic Laboratories’ Teresa Ching and Laura Button.

Hearing Review has published articles related to the process by which children with cochlear implants learn words as well as new therapies for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Dr Ching also wrote a 2-part article titled “Fitting and Evaluating a Hearing Aid for Recipients of a Unilateral Cochlear Implant: The NAL Approach” in 2004.

Source: The Register