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How Much Benefit
will an Individual Receive?
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Recipients vary
greatly in the amount of benefit they derive from the cochlear
implant devices. The outcomes can be broken down into three (3)
groups.
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Group
1
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Congenital
or infancy onset hearing loss. If a child born deaf is detected
soon after birth, fitted with hearing aids in the first year of
life, and subsequently obtains a cochlear implant by age 2 to 3
years (the earlier the better) there are great expectations for
this child to obtain excellent auditory and oral communication
skills with a cochlear implant. This requires intensive speech
therapy for several years after the implant is placed to achieve
these results. It is reasonable to expect such a child to enter
mainstream classrooms upon starting the 1st grade and to not have
the hearing impairment be a significant limiting factor in the
child's ultimate educational and occupational goals. Children in
this group are considered excellent candidates for a cochlear
implant. |
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Group
2 |
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Adult
Onset Hearing Loss: Adults who grew up with normal hearing or at
least hearing adequate enough to learn to speak proficiently, and
subsequently have their hearing deteriorate to a severe level are
considered excellent candidates for cochlear implants. These
patients adjust to the implant very rapidly (usually within a few
months) and require only short term therapy. With practice and
patience these individuals experience great improvement in face to
face communication. Many can learn to talk on the telephone. There
is great improvement in environmental sound awareness. Background
noise still creates a challenging communication environment.
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Group
3 |
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Older
Children and Adults Born Deaf: Any child greater than 5 years old
up through adulthood who was born deaf and spent many years with
very poor hearing is a challenging cochlear implant candidate. The
success of cochlear implantation in these cases is effected by
many factors: oral speech training and skills, dependency on
manual communication (sign language ), and motivation of the
individual and parents to obtain improved auditory and spoken
communication skills. The advisability of cochlear implantation in
these individuals must be determined on an individual basis.
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