Speech therapy for children of early school age with a cochlear implant

This thesis deals with the issue of speech therapy for children of early school age with the cochlear implant. General knowledge about hearing impairment and the possibility of compensation, different types of cochlear implants and especially about the specifics and methodology of following speech therapy are summarized in the theoretical part of the thesis. The practical part consists of research, realized through questionnaires. The research deals with the current situation of speech therapy for children of early school age with a cochlear implant, with a special focus on post-implantation rehabilitation and its complexity. The result of the research demonstrates the complexity of speech therapy only in some speech therapy workplaces. The result of the research also demonstrates that speech therapy is highly individual and depends completely on specific situation and personality and communication skills of each child with a cochlear implant. KEYWORDS Hearing impairment, cochlear implant, cochlear implantation, child with a cochlear implant, early school age, rehabilitation, hearing and speech developement, speech therapy