Outcomes and Achievement of Students Who Grew Up with Access to Cochlear Implants

Abstract

This cohort of cochlear implant users compared favorably with their hearing peers on academic achievement measures. Although there was a wide distribution of educational and vocational outcomes, the children tended to follow the educational/vocational patterns of their parents. As age of implantation decreases, it will be important to compare achievement outcomes of this first generation with those of subsequent generations of cochlear implant users.

Rates of Long‐term Cochlear Implant Use in Children

“…[6][7][8][9] Our average duration of 12 hours of CI use a day was slightly higher than other studies, which reported CI use of 10.56 hours/day 8 and 11 hours/day. 13 Prior research has also found a similar association between older age of implantation and increasing rates of nonuse.…”

“…13 Prior research has also found a similar association between older age of implantation and increasing rates of nonuse. 8,9,14 Previously suggested reasons for nonuse have been anecdotal but include pain on stimulation, complex psychosocial issues at home 14 , and minimal audiological benefit. 8,9 The strengths of the present study include a relatively large sample size, analytic methods allowing for differential periods of follow-up, a consecutive case series at a single institution, and a high response rate.…”

“…[6][7][8][9] The benefits of cochlear implants are observed in three time periods: short-term benefits (0-3 years) of sound awareness and early language development, medium-term benefits (3-8 years) of proficiency in verbal language and acquisition of reading and writing skills, and long-term benefits (>8 years) consisting of later educational, social and vocational opportunities that depend on verbal language proficiency. 10 This conceptual framework of the effects of CI across developmental stages underscores how an accurate characterization of nonuse requires long-term data collection from patients across these three time periods, particularly with respect to guiding familial expectations of long-term outcomes.…”

Phonological Awareness, Vocabulary, and Word Reading in Children Who Use Cochlear Implants: Does Age of Implantation Explain Individual Variability in Performance Outcomes and Growth?

“…There are some indications that the reading level of deaf 1 adolescents who use cochlear implants (CI) falls within the range expected of age-matched peers with no hearing difficulties (Geers, 2003;Spencer, Gantz, & Knutson, 2004) more often than that which has been reported with respect to deaf adolescents who did not use CI (Allen, 1986;Conrad, 1979;Marschark & Harris, 1996). This finding is consistent with the growing body of research which suggests that CI enhance the development of speech perception (Blamey et al, 2001) and the acquisition of spoken language (Dawson, Blamey, Dettman, Barker, & Clark, 1995;Miyamoto, Svirsky, & Robbins, 1997).…”

Implante coclear em crianças pós-linguais: resultados funcionais após 10 anos da cirurgia

“…To study the performance of the children implanted for a long time is also vital, since it enables a better explanation about the long term effects of the electrical stimulation of the auditory system, enabling healthcare professionals to provide more detailed information about the long term stability of the results to future CI candidates and their families 5,18,19 . The present study reported the results reached by 10 children with postlingual HI, after over 10 years using the CI, in relation to speech, speech intelligibility, the use and working of the device, vis-á-vis speech perception, speech intelligibility, and the use and functioning of the device and the academic and/or occupational level.…”