Abstract
The current status of 16 schoolchildren who had received a cochlear implant between two and five years of age was assessed in terms of language development and school achievement. They were classified into two groups according to differences in language education received before entering school. The first group consisted of children who had received language education by a combination of the auditory-oral mode and manual communication mode, including signed Japanese and manual codes of Japanese, prior to cochlear implantation. The second group consisted of five children who had never received language education before cochlear implantation. They were admitted to a day nursery after surgery on the surgeon's advice to facilitate their language development among hearing peers.
The results of the WISC-III demonstrated that the language skills of the children in the first group were significantly superior to those of the children in the second group, with a few exceptions. Based on this finding it was concluded that consistent, long-term language education is indispensable from the beginning of habilitation in candidates for cochlear implantation.
