Educational placement of deaf children following cochlear implantation

This study examined the educational placements, before cochlear implantation, of 121 deaf children, and the educational placements, two years after implantation, of the 48 children who had reached that stage, looking at the influence of age at implantation and duration of deafness on the placement of these children. In addition, it compared the educational placements of those given implants prior to schooling, and those given implants when already in an educational setting. Categories used were pre-school, school for the deaf, unit or resource base within a mainstream school and full-time mainstream provision. Age at implantation and duration of deafness were found to be significant predictors of placement two years after implantation. The duration of deafness of children in schools for the deaf or units was twice that of children in mainstream education. Fifty-three per cent of children who were in pre-school at the time of implantation were in mainstream schools two years after implantation, whereas only 6% of those who were already in educational placements at the time of implantation were in mainstream education. This difference was statistically significant. The results indicate that children who are given implants early, before an educational decision has been made, are more likely to go to mainstream schools than those given implants when already in an educational setting.