School Professionals Working with Children with Cochlear Implants

• Totally practical guide for professionals dealing with students with cochlear implants
• Successful authors - this being their third book on the topic
• Completely up-to-date with new regulatory information, technological advances, and social considerations
• An increasing population for a technology only 15 years old now makes it necessary for school professionals to make provision for and have a good understanding of the practicalities of working with CI students

This book is a comprehensive resource for school-based professionals who work with the increasing number of children with cochlear implants. Focusing on giving the reader critical background information, the well-known authors begin with the history, technology, and functionality of cochlear implants. They cover the changes seen in the populations now utilizing these devices and describe how the impact of having an implant can affect a child. Finally, they highlight how the clinician and team providing services can best address each child's individual needs. Special consideration is given to the multidisciplinary team and the culture of collaboration: handling the effects of family influence and participation, issues of special populations (such as non-English-speaking parents), and providing services that best address individual children's needs.

Throughout the text, the authors address new questions and issues resulting from the rapidly evolving technology. The authors detail the effects of more and younger children receiving cochlear implants entering into school systems and discuss the emerging and increased role of the speech pathologist. The book is the ideal guide and supplies the school professional with tools for providing the best possible direction and options for children with cochlear implants.

Reviews

"This welcome addition to the series was written to ensure that those who work with children with cochlear implants day in and day out have the knowledge and skills to help these children reach their fullest potential. FOUR STARS!"
—Linda Jacobs-Condit, AuD, CCC-A, George Washington University, Doody's Review Service

"This book is an appropriate resource for students enrolled in college training programs and is also appropriate for school professionals who are new to the field of cochlear implants as well as those that have been working with implants for several years. The book addresses the issue that the procedures used to educate children with hearing losses have changed significantly over recent years. [...] One of the main strengths of the text is its emphasis on a team approach to educational management of the child with a cochlear implant and its discussion of the need for management of the needs of each individual child – what works well for one child may not necessarily work as well for a different child with a cochlear implant. This book encourages professionals to look at each child as an individual and to determine where the child falls on the 'Zone of Cochlear Implant Performance.' They describe how important it is to continue monitoring the child’s progress in academics, auditory skills, speech and language skills and social development. This reviewer agrees with the authors that parents as well as professionals need to evaluate and adjust the child’s current educational placement if needed to allow the child to maxima the auditory potential of the cochlear implant. And just as importantly, the authors encourage professionals in the field of education and speech and hearing to re-evaluate and update their current philosophies regarding the education of children who are deaf and utilize cochlear implants. This book is timely in its publication as many professionals in the educational realm are seeking information that will help them better serve and meet the educational needs of children with cochlear implants." 
—Anita Vereb, MS/CCC-A, Clinical Audiologist, University of Michigan Health Systems, in the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology (October 2006)

• Introduction.
• The Winds of Change.
• Collaborative Teams to Enhance Children's Performance with Cochlear Implants.
• Characteristics of Educational Programs that Support Children with Cochlear Implants.
• Auditory Habilitation: Thinking Outside the Box.
• Intelligible Speech: The Possible Dream.
• Sign Language and the Cochlear Implant User.
• Demystifying the Mapping Process.
• The Zone of Cochlear Implant Performance.
• Considerations for Special Populations.
• Cochlear Implants and Reading.
• Social Development.
• Listening with Two Ears.
• Listening in Noisy Classrooms.
• Looking to the Future of Pediatric Cochlear Implants.
• Index.