Postlingual Deafness

Hearing loss that occurs after a person has acquired spoken language, typically after about age three to five. Postlingually deaf people usually retain spoken-language fluency, literacy, and memory of sound, which affects their rehabilitation trajectory and their experience of cochlear implants, hearing aids, and music. The distinction from prelingual deafness matters for accessibility design because postlingually deaf users often expect text, captions, and speech-based interfaces, whereas prelingually deaf users may rely primarily on sign language and visual communication.