Background and objectives: This study was undertaken to investigate the educational status in bilateral prelingual deaf children with a cochlear implant (CI), also known as early cochlear implantees (CIs). Type of schooling and enrollment rate of tertiary education were analyzed as primary results.
Subjects and methods: Participants in this study comprised a highly homogeneous group of deaf patients who underwent cochlear implantation at a similar age. Sixty-four Korean patients were enrolled. Statistical data for disabled populations and the general population were obtained from the National Statistics Korea.
Results: Among 64 patients, 46, 8, and 10 attended mainstream, integrated, and special schools, respectively. Notably, there was a significant difference in the type of school between hearing-impaired and CI groups (p=0.007). Ten of 13 patients enrolled in tertiary education.
Conclusions: CI users were more likely than hearing impaired students to attend mainstream school. The enrollment rate of CI users in tertiary education was the same as that of the general population.
Keywords: Cochlear implantation; Cochlear implants; Education; Educational status; Hearing loss.