Eye Tracking Shows Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children with Cochlear Implants Read Like Hearing Peers

This study investigated the reading processes of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children with cochlear implants (CIs) in comparison to typically hearing (TH) peers using eye-tracking methodology. While prior research on CI users has primarily focused on the level of reading performance, our approach captured word-by-word reading behavior to examine fixation durations, fixation counts, and regressions.Twenty-two DHH children with CIs (14 female; Mage = 10.25 years, SD = 1.31) and 26 TH children (16 female; Mage = 10.5 years, SD = 0.95), silently read an age-appropriate Polish text while their eye movements were recorded. We analyzed eye movements by word type (content vs. function words) and word length.Consistent with established reading research, both groups devoted more attention to content words than function words, and to longer than shorter words as evidenced by more fixations, longer dwell time, and more regressions. Interestingly, however, there were no differences in first fixation duration or average fixation duration. Finally, no significant between-group differences were observed in any eye-tracking metrics, indicating similar cognitive processing during reading.These findings align with the qualitative similarity hypothesis, suggesting that with appropriate support, DHH children with CIs can achieve reading processes comparable to TH peers.Similar first and average fixation durations indicate unimpaired word decoding, while increased fixation counts, regressions, and dwell times for content and longer words reflect higher demands during post-lexical semantic and syntactic integration. The results highlight the value of eye tracking as a sensitive tool for detecting reading strategies, and they underscore the potential of early implantation combined with holistic educational support to promote literacy development.