Language and academic outcomes of children with cochlear implants in an inclusive setting: Evidence from 18 years of data

Abstract

Objective This study examined outcomes in core and pragmatic language, receptive vocabulary, and academic skills in children with cochlear implants (CIs) enrolled in an inclusive educational setting. Methods Eighty-eight children with CIs were included in the analyses. Data was collected over an 18-year period, at six-month intervals for core language, vocabulary, and pragmatic skills and in kindergarten and second grade for academic skills. Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to estimate the median time to achieve age-appropriate scores. Results Results indicated the median time to obtain age-appropriate skills for children with CIs enrolled in our program was less than three years for core language and pragmatic skills and less than two years for vocabulary. Over 90% of the sample had academic skills in the average range in both kindergarten and second grade. Discussion This study shares outcomes of children with CIs who received consistent and intensive transdisciplinary intervention in an inclusive educational setting, revealing the trajectory required to obtain age-appropriate skills, when compared to normative data. Conclusion Results were favorable, indicating that children with CIs in an inclusive program, with intensive intervention and strong language and social models, can develop skills commensurate with typically developing peers across a variety of core skills.