The decision to provide a child with a cochlear implant is quite complex, as it must include consideration not only of the implant itself but also of the habilitative services necessary following the surgical procedure. To provide a systematic means of selecting hearing-impaired children for cochlear implants, a team at Children's Hearing Institute, Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, developed the Children's Implant Profile (ChIP). There is no one profile of a successful implant user—at least 11 factors appear to contribute to successful implantation. In the ChIP, each factor is evaluated on a three-point scale: (1) no concern, (2) mild-to-moderate concern, and (3) great concern. A profile showing "no concern" on all 11 factors denotes clear acceptability of the child as an implant candidate. A profile including several ratings in the "mild-to-moderate concern" category suggests a need for further study to determine if improvements could be made in projected outcomes before initiating surgical procedures. Finally, ratings of "great concern," especially on more than one factor, indicate a very limited probability of successful implant outcomes, at least at the time of evaluation. A case study is presented to demonstrate the relationship between the evaluated factors and to show how the profile is used to address and remedy areas of concern.

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Feuerstein's (1979) mediated learning theory was applied to a deaf population for investigating the cognitive modiliability of this population. The Learning Potential Assessment Device (LPAD) was employed in a pretest-posttest design for determining transfer of learning along cognitive and behavioral dimensions. Severely to profoundly deaf children (N = 45) with hearing parents and between the ages of 9 and 13 years were randomly assigned to three groups-an experimental and two comparison groups. The subjects in the experimental group received examiner mediation as designed by Feuerstein. In one control condition (elaborated), the examiner provided limited feedback to the subjects, and in the other control condition (standard), the subjects performed the tasks following traditional psychometric procedures. The experimental group performed significantly better than the comparison groups on five of the six LPAD tasks, supporting the applicability of Feuerstein's theory of mediated learning. The experimental group also demonstrated significant transfer of learning on other cognitive and behavioral measures.

This study explored the dynamic interaction between a mother and her 11-month-old visually impaired infant before and after the mother was taught infant massage. After the mother learned infant massage, she had more appropriate physical contact with her infant, engaged with him within his field of vision, directly vocalized to him, and had a greater ability to read his cues; the infant's interactions were reciprocal and reflected more-secure attachment, and the infant demonstrated beginning awareness of self and space.

This introductory article establishes the foundation for a special issue of the American Annals of the Deaf on teacher action research. The authors first introduce the definition of the teacher-as-researcher model, formally known as teacher action research . Four elements of teacher action research are discussed in detail: cyclical, systematic, reflective , and collaborative . Next, the history of teacher action research is discussed. Subsequently, the multi-paradigmatic and multi-methodological nature of teacher action research is proposed. Finally, as a means of guiding readers, the scope of the special issue is described. The introduction concludes with the suggestion that in-service and preservice teachers integrate theory into practice and engage in systematic inquiry into their own practice to develop the mindset necessary to cope with the pedagogical challenges they face on a daily basis.