Reading achievement and deaf students with cochlear implants

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reading outcomes of a Canadian cohort of school-aged deaf learners with cochlear implants (CIs). The goal was to investigate whether achievement approached that of hearing age peers and identify demographic factors influencing performance.

Participants represent a subset of 13 students with CIs from a larger sample of 70 deaf students in grades four through 12 educated in inclusive settings within a large school board in central Canada. Data sources included demographic information, teachers' ratings on the Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP), and scores from the Woodcock-Johnson III Diagnostic Reading Battery [WJ III-DRB].Results/Discussion: Participants performed within the low average range in all areas except for Phonological Awareness, which was in the low range; however, there was wide variability in scores across participants. None of the demographic variables (e.g. home language, additional disabilities) had a statistically significant association with performance, although older students had higher mean scores on the Phonological Awareness cluster.

These findings add to the body of research on literacy achievement and cochlear implantation, providing evidence that this technology has a significant positive effect on outcomes for a population that has heretofore underperformed in this area.