Trends in Educational Placement and Cost-Benefit Considerations in Children With Cochlear Implants

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
EDUCATIONAL achievement by hearing-impaired children is enhanced by the use of verbal communication.1,2 Mainstream classrooms offer standard verbal and academic training that forms the foundation for future academic development and vocation. Deaf young adults not in mainstream elementary and postsecondary schools are less likely to pursue secondary education and are more likely to be underemployed or unemployed.3,4 Severely to profoundly hearing-impaired children are disadvantaged in mainstream classrooms by reduced access to verbal communication and delays in English-language competence. Special educational services—eg, interpreters, speech pathologists, and teaching assistants—can attempt to remediate language delays and enhance access to communication and the academic material in mainstream classrooms. The demand for special education services has increased by the passage of laws (Public Law 94-142, The Education for all Handicapped Children Act)5 that compel educational systems to make available to students with disabilities, at no cost, a public education that approximates as closely as possible that experienced by nondisabled students. Challenges in overcoming the language delays associated with deafness, however, represent an impediment to the objective of equal educational opportunities for children with significant hearing disability.