CID school teachers and pediatric audiologists know how to make the best possible use of cochlear implant technology for children.

 

Cochlear Implant Expertise

A cochlear implant consists of a series of electrodes surgically placed in the inner ear. An external processing device converts sounds into impulses delivered to these electrodes. The result, with appropriate training, is a child's improved ability to detect and distinguish among certain kinds of sounds, including speech sounds. This device has had a significant positive effect on the rate at which many children –– particularly those who have early intensive auditory-oral education such as that offered at CID –– are learning to listen and to talk. Typically, more than half of the CID school children have cochlear implants. 

CID teachers and audiologists have had a great deal of success in educating children with cochlear implants. Our school audiologists are experts in programming and troubleshooting cochlear implants and using state-of-the-art equipment to program the devices for maximum benefit.

All CID teachers are experienced in developing listening skills for children with cochlear implants and for capitalizing on the implant as they teach children to listen and talk. Our on-site pediatric audiologists work with teachers, parent counselors and other professionals to provide expert pre-implant evaluations of hearing, speech, language and cognitive ability for children being considered for cochlear implants. 

Pediatric cochlear implant mapping/programming is both science and art.  Our audiologists have years of experience of interacting with infants and children and knowing how to interpret their responses to their environment. They combine the art of working with children with the science of state-of the-art equipment and research-based best practices to provide expert CI programming. Our audiologists routinely optimize each student’s cochlear implant maps. They know each student by name and see them often enough to remember which cochlear implant they use without looking at their file.

CID has led the way in evaluating cochlear implant technology for children. In the 1990s, CID researchers received two multi-year grants from the National Institutes of Health to study cochlear implants in children and to develop educational strategies and evaluation procedures. The work led to the development of the CID SPICE, an auditory learning curriculum now used throughout the world to help educate children with cochlear implants. Lisa Davidson, PhD, CID's coordinator of pediatric audiology, helped develop the SPICE, one of CID's deaf education assessment tools and curricula useful for working with children who have hearing aids and cochlear implants. CID's pediatric audiology and educational staff host deaf education workshops annually and give talks for other professionals serving children with cochlear implants.