Expectations on Communication Abilities, Social Skills, and Academic Achievements of Children with Cochlear Implant in Indian Context

Abstract

Objective: We assessed preoperative parental expectations on communication abilities, social skills, and academic achievements of children with cochlear implant (CI). Materials and Methods: A total of 18 questions from the “Parent Expectations Questionnaire for Cochlear Implants” related to communication abilities, social skills, and academic achievements were administered on a total of 80 parents who were in the process of cochlear implantation for their children. Results: The results revealed that parents expressed high expectations (expectation score between 81% and 100%) on communication abilities (82.5%), social skills (90.8%), and academic achievements (84.1%) of their children from cochlear implantation. With respect to questions related to communication abilities, social skills, and academic achievements, 87.28%, 97.17%, and 91.80% of parents, respectively, agreed that their children show improvements in the above domains. Conclusions: Overall, parents expressed high expectations on the outcomes of children with CI. Hence, CI team must judge the actualism in the preoperative parental expectations and disseminate accurate prognostic information that is expected from cochlear implantation before surgery in order to make the whole procedure effective.