Treatment of hearing-impaired children by cochlear implant intervention and rehabilitation

Abstract

Based on our survey of children with cochlear implants (CI) in Japan, the data shows an increase in both CI and bilateral CI cases. Bilateral CI revealed better end results than first CI in terms of speech intelligibility in both silent surroundings and a noisy environment, due to reported improvements in directionality, listening using the second CI, and tinnitus relief. At the same time, CI has been approved as a method of treatment for single-sided deafness (SSD) overseas, with a number of recent reports noting its effectiveness. Moreover, auditory-verbal education after CI is an important step in CI, along with music therapy to help strengthen auditory processing. With early detection, diagnosis and hearing aid (HA) implementation, adoption of better guidelines, and advances in examination equipment, HA and CI devices, and related education, speech-language therapists specialized in treating hearing-impaired individuals in Japan today have abundant possibilities for future applications.