Cochlear Implant Case Studies

Julia is a 10-year-old girl with a cochlear implant and is in the process of getting a second implant in a few weeks. In this video interview, she is asked a series of questions from her older cousin. Julia presents with language development issues that are a possible result of her hearing loss. Julia does appear to be able to read lips and does have some sign language abilities. During the interview, if Julia did not hear the question, she would say “what” and look directly at her cousin’s face. There does appear to be difficulty with some syntax usage when forming sentences. This is probably due to her hearing loss and the implementation of the cochlear implant.
Julia, during the interview, did present difficulty using full sentences, however, she did show good manners when she offered her cousin a piece of gum. When she noticed that her cousin did not have a piece of gum in her mouth anymore, she asked where it was and “can I give you one more?”, it sounded like Julia wanted to give her last piece of gum to her cousin, but I think she meant one more piece of gum. She said
However, to begin with, the teacher needs to be educated about the cochlear implants as soon as possible. The teacher needs to be aware of the make, model, all the parts involved with the implants in case something goes wrong and the teacher needs to call support of troubleshooting. In addition to the physical hardware, the teacher needs to know and be somewhat familiar with the software, volume, and sensitivity. Have the student’s parents demonstrate the devise when it is working properly. Also, the parents can instruct the teacher on how to test the microphone and system sensors. Remember that there are many different types of cochlear devises, so do not be afraid to inquire about the specific student’s implants. (Zombeck et