Effects on Communication

There has been much research conducted demonstrating the positive benefits of cochlear implantation (CI) in children who are deaf. Research on CI in children who are both deaf and blind, however, is lacking. The purpose of this article is to present a study of five congenitally deafblind children who received cochlear implants between 2.2 and 4.2 years of age. Ratings of video observations were used to measure the children’s early communication development with and with-out the use of their cochlear implants. In addition, parental interviews were used to assess the benefits parents perceived regarding their children’s cochlear implants. Two examples are included in this article to illustrate the parents ’ perspec-tives about CI in their deafblind children. Benefits of CI in this cohort of children included improved attention and emotional response as well as greater use of objects in in-teraction with adults. The best overall outcome of CI is not spoken language but better communication. In the years since the advent of paediatric implantation, a positive effect of cochlear implantation (CI) for people with acquired deafblindness has been reported, both i