The scholastic achievement of profoundly deaf children with cochlear implants compared to their normal peers

The scholastic achievement of children with cochlear implants is one of the most important determinants of recipients' quality of life after cochlear implantation. The present study aimed to study the scholastic achievement of 27 children with cochlear implants attending mainstream schools and to compare their scholastic performance to their normal-hearing peers.

From 30 children living in Tehran with an average age of 40 months at the time of cochlear implantation at our center, 27 participated in this study. The results of children's examinations and their performance in Persian literature, mathematics, and dictation in comparison to their normal peers and their overall scholastic performance during final examinations were the two measures utilized to assess the children's school performance. Parents reported their children's medical and educational history, characteristics of the family, and their participation in their children's therapy by completing questionnaires.

Mean score was 18.84 (SD=2.86) for mathematics, 19.18 (SD=1.59) for Persian literature, 19.35 (SD=1.36) for dictation, and 19.19 (SD=1.54) for overall academic performance. Compared to their normal-hearing classmates, most children with cochlear implants had an above- average performance in mathematics, Persian literature, and dictation (59.3%, 66.7%, and 74.1%, respectively). The overall examination results showed that nearly half of them (48.1%) performed above average.

The results of this study well indicate that children with cochlear implants can achieve a satisfactory scholastic performance in mainstream schools with their implant duration as the most important factor determining postimplant outcomes.