Cochlear implantation in children

Cochlear implantation (CI) is an intervention for reducing hearing disabilities in children with congenital or acquired profound sensorineural hearing loss. The implant stimulates the auditory sensory pathway by way of electrodes that are inserted in the cochlea, which enables the deaf child to perceive sound. However this technology does not restore normal hearing. It may be an important aid in speech perception and speech recognition and can support spoken-language acquisition. Although CI technology is generally considered ‘accepted’ in the rehabilitation of adults with profound hearing loss of recent onset and of postlingually profoundly deaf children, it is still seen as ‘innovative’ in the case of early-implanted congenitally and prelingually deaf children, and in many countries this has been the source of bitter controversy. The debate does not focus primarily on the medical aspects of implantation, but rather on the social and cultural dimensions of deafness.