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Early intervention for children

If your child has hearing loss, getting treatment sooner rather than later has many benefits, including laying the foundation for fundamental language and social skills.

Cochlear Implants gave seven-year-old Patrick H. the ability to learn and play alongside his classmates, with the peace of mind knowing he’ll be able to hear his teachers and the world around him.

What you will find on this page

  • Discover the link between hearing and brain development

  • Learn why treating hearing loss early helps children at school

  • Hear from parents who acted early

Why treating hearing loss in children early is important

As a parent, you want your child to hear you say, ‘I love you’, or see their face light up when you sing to them.

Being able to hear lets your child enjoy those special moments with you. But did you know hearing is also important for developing the language and social skills that help children succeed at school and beyond? In fact, research confirms that 81% of children who receive a cochlear implant early, attend mainstream schools.1

Hearing and brain development

If your child has hearing loss, acting as early as possible is important. Research shows that children who are implanted early can learn to speak faster than those implanted later in life. In fact, performance scores in children implanted younger are closer to scores of normal hearing children.2

New evidence shows that early treatment could put your child’s development on par with their hearing peers – giving them the opportunity to excel in life.3,4

Patrick received a Cochlear hearing solution the week of his first birthday. At age 4, his school tests showed his language skills were on par with his peers. He now wants to be a veterinarian. Watch his story below.

“He gets to go to the gifted program. For someone who has hearing loss, it’s even more amazing!”

- Parents of Patrick H. - Nucleus® recipient

View all stories

Hearing at school

Addressing your child’s hearing loss early can help enormously when they go to school. Benefits may include:

  • Attending mainstream schools1

  • Better communication with teachers and classmates

  • Making new friends easily

Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) State Programs

Every state in the United States has an EHDI program to identify children with a permanent hearing loss before three months of age and to provide intervention services before six months of age.

Learn more about EDHI state programs.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

The IDEA provides free appropriate public education and early intervention programs to children with hearing loss, from birth to three. It also offers programs for ages three to 21.

Learn more about the IDEA.

Early intervention resources

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Mattias shopping with wife and daughter

Connect with a mentor

Connect with someone who has experienced a hearing journey similar to yours.

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Disclaimer

Please seek advice from your medical practitioner or health professional about treatments for hearing loss. They will be able to advise on a suitable solution for the hearing loss condition. All products should be used only as directed by your medical practitioner or health professional. Not all products are available in all countries. Please contact your local Cochlear representative.

Views expressed by Cochlear recipients and hearing health providers are those of the individual. Consult your hearing health provider to determine if you are a candidate for cochlear technology and to understand the associated risks and benefits. Individual results may vary.

ACE, Advance Off-Stylet, AOS, AutoNRT, Autosensitivity, Beam, Button, CareYourWay, Carina, Cochlear, 科利耳, コクレア, Cochlear SoftWear, Codacs, ConnectYourWay, Contour, Contour Advance, Custom Sound, ESPrit, Freedom, Hear now. And always, HearYourWay, Hugfit, Hybrid, Invisible Hearing, Kanso, MET, MicroDrive, MP3000, myCochlear, mySmartSound, NRT, Nucleus, Off-Stylet, Slimline, SmartSound, Softip, SPrint, True Wireless, the elliptical logo, WearYourWay and Whisper are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Cochlear Limited. Ardium, Baha, Baha SoftWear, BCDrive, DermaLock, EveryWear, Vistafix, and WindShield are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions AB.

References

  1. Semenov, YR, Yeh, ST, Seshamani, M, Wang, N-Y, Tobey, EA, Eisenberg, LS, Quittner, AL, Frick, KD, Niparko, JK, CDaCI Investigative Team. Age-Dependent Cost-Utility of Pediatric Cochlear Implantation. Ear Hear. 2013;34(4):402-412.
  2. Niparko JK(1), Tobey EA, Thal DJ, Eisenberg LS, Wang NY, Quittner AL, Fink NE, CDaCI Investigative Team. Spoken language development in children following cochlear implantation. JAMA. 2010 Apr 21; 303(15):1498-506.
  3. Effects of Hearing Loss on Development. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) [Internet]. 2013 [Cited 2013 July]. Available from: asha.org/public/hearing/disorders/effects.htm. 
  4. Sharma A, Gilley P, Martin K, Roland P, Bauer P, Dorman M. (2007). Simultaneous versus sequential bilateral implantation in young children: Effects on central auditory system development and plasticity. Audiological Medicine, 5(4), 218-223.