2017 Volume 60 Issue 2 Pages 143-151
The current situations and problems in school life faced as children were evaluated in 3 individuals aged 18 years or older with cochlear implants who had been regularly followed up. Information on the situations and problems of school life was collected from speech perception tests, subjective self-assessment of hearing, medical records, records maintained by parents, etc. The results revealed a high hearing ability (85% to 90%) of the individuals under silent conditions, while one subject had a low hearing ability (40%) under noisy conditions with S/N ratio of 10. In addition, self-assessment revealed difficulty in hearing while “chatting with a few people” and during “conversation with a distant person” in one person. The results suggested that for these subjects, the hearing aid system was of help not only for listening to teachers, but also for having conversations with friends and during group activities, which opened opportunities for communication and developing interest in other people. Education of the friends around by teachers was considered important to allow the hearing-impaired children to achieve self-actualization through school life. Children with cochlear implants go through various processes in the developmental stages, and it is considered necessary to provide care to these individuals according to the stage of life, taking into account the individual causes of hearing impairment and home environment.