Monitoring and evaluating the educational effects of the cochlear implant

For more than 2 years, the House Ear Institute has monitored the educational progress of children who have received the cochlear implant at the Institute. A program has been developed to ensure that the Institute receives information from and provides information to each child's school. Additionally, the Institute is involved in a number of projects designed to assist children in their educational setting. This paper describes the Institute's program for maintaining contacts with the schools. It presents results from a Teacher Evaluation Form on how implant children are responding to sound in the classroom. Educational changes exhibited by 14 children are examined. Two projects, the Cochlear Implant/Auditory Trainer Project and the Educational Outreach Program are described. Finally, discussion of the future educational prospects of implant children is presented.