Considering Cochlear Implantation?
If you are not familiar with cochlear implants, you’ll find it helpful to spend some time visiting some schools attended by children with implants or spend time with families of children your child’s age or older who use cochlear implants.
Pediatric cochlear implant centers typically use a multidisciplinary approach to determining candidacy, and your child will should evaluated by the surgeon, audiologist, speech language pathologist and psychologist who, as a team, will discuss with you your child’s candidacy for cochlear implantation in their program.
You may wish to ask the following:
- What devices does the program use, what is their experience with the reliability of each device, and how compatible new external technologies have been to older internal devices, since you can expect your child to use the device you choose for many years
- How many pediatric implants has the surgeon performed and how many children has the audiologist mapped
- How is progress assessed and are speech perception testing and speech language evaluations performed regularly
- How does your center communicate with your child’s educators and therapists so that all your child’s providers can work effectively together
You may also wish to contact your insurance company so you understand what procedures and follow-up services your plan covers, and who are providers on your plan
