[First generation CI recipients]

The first cochlear implantations (CI) were carried out in the 1980s. In most cases the recipients had a long history of deafness. They had opted for CI transplant without recourse to any long-term studies or experience of other CI recipients. What was the motivation for their decision? What was their experience (e.g., social environment) before and after the implantation? How do they perceive their decision at this point in time? These and further questions are addressed within the framework of a qualitative study. Such was the extent of suffering of the precochlear recipients that they went ahead regardless of the outcome. As it emerged from our study, the CI recipients of the first generation (defined as CI provision to 1989/1990) were particularly strong-minded personalities with an extremely strong willpower, willingness and utmost optimism.