Students with Cochlear Implants at Schools for the Deaf

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Students with Cochlear Implants at Schools for
the Deaf

• Judy Harrison, M.A.
• Beth Israel Medical Center-NYC
• 212-844-8446

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Populations of CI users

• Post-lingual adults and children
• Young children
• Pre-lingual adults
• Older children
• aural/oral
• signing
• Other

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Young Children with CIs

• Approximately four years and below
• Auditory/oral language
• Mainstream education

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Older children whose language is based in sign

• Limited auditory experience and skills
• Limited speech skills
• Visual learning skills

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Opportunities for Older CI Students

• Increased communication skills through audition
• Increased access to incidental information
• Enhancement of visual communication
• Potential for more intelligible speech

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Adolescents and Teens

• Counseling
• Sensitivity to the evaluation process
• EXPECTATIONS
• Participants in the creation of their own MAP
• Support after the cochlear implant is activated

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Challenges at Schools for the Deaf

• Lack of training/experience/knowledge reCIs and
  auditory learning
• Resistance to CI technology, results and
  educational potential
• Resistance to creating an auditory learning
  environment
• Administrations and/or boards of directors that
  do not support auditory learning

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Creating an Auditory Learning Environment

• Talking and signing together is not enough
• Attention to the acoustic environment
• Addressing habits from using visual language
• Skilled use of auditory/oral language
• Balancing the expectations for auditory skills
  with the need for visual language
• Support for mainstream education

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Successful Strategies

• Ongoing consultation
• Staff in-services
• Student in-services
• Family information meetings
• Student progress meetings
• Schedules that prioritize speech/language
• Administrative support

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Ongoing Consultation

• Classroom and therapy observations
• Follow-up meetings with staff (same day)
• Video-taped sessions (self-evaluations)
• Written recommendations

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Staff In-services

• Cochlear Implants 101
• Staff anxiety and/or resistance
• Dispel the myths
• Realistic AND challenging expectations
• Auditory learning
• Teaching strategies

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Student In-services

• Cochlear Implants 101
• Address the anxiety
• Dispel the myths
• Discuss realistic expectations

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Family Information Meetings

• Accurate and complete information
• Families with children who use CIs
• Physicians and CI center staff to present

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Student Progress Meetings

• Quarterly during the school year
• Attended by family, educational team, CI center
  representative and child (when appropriate)

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Schedules that Prioritize Individual Sessions

• Individual speech/language sessions occur
  simultaneously for students
• New listeners require daily sessions
• Appropriate acoustic environment

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Administrative Support

• Professional release time
• Encourage attendance at auditory learning
  workshops
• Graduate courses
• Hire teachers trained in auditory/oral education
• Technical support through audiology department

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IF WE TEACH TODAY LIKE WE TAUGHT YESTERDAY, WE
ROB OUR CHILDREN OF TOMORROW

• John Dewey, Educator and Philosopher