It is crucial to visit an Audiologist or Ear Nose and Throat specialist when you, or your child, experience a hearing loss. Potential candidates can be referred to, or contact Southern ENT to connect you with your nearest cochlear implant or Baha clinic. It is crucial that people considering a cochlear implant be evaluated by a specialised and experienced cochlear implant team.
Potential candidates have to undergo a series of medical tests to ensure they comply with the clinical criteria to benefit from an implant. The surgery is performed by only specialized Ear Nose and Throat Surgeons and is preceded by the intervention of a multi professional implant team that could include:
Early implantation is of utmost importance if somebody was born with a hearing disability as it influences the child’s ability to develop spoken language and adapt in a main stream school. There is nothing worse for a mother of a new born child than receiving confirmation that your child suffers from a disability. Hearing impairment is the largest, single disability; a silent killer as very often it goes undetected, ignored, or mistreated. If a child is congenitally deaf, and receives no hearing amplification he/she will hardly be able to develop spoken language after 3-4 years because the hearing pathway no longer activates the auditory cortex, but the visual cortex. This is largely due to the fact that these children have to rely solely on their vision to ‘hear’ and make sense of a very auditory world. It is therefore imperative that parents are guided into making the decision for the child to be a part of the hearing world or not, at the earliest time as possible. Cochlear implants are routinely implanted in children from 12 months of age. The youngest person in South Africa to receive a cochlear implant is 7 months.
First activation (switch-on): The first activation is when the internal cochlear implant is connected to the external speech processor, i.e. when the patient is connected to sound for the first time. It usually takes place four weeks post-surgery and is just the beginning of a long process. The first activation is usually uneventful because the brain needs time and practice to adjust to the new sound. The results will emerge over time.Post-surgery mapping sessions: Patients will have to attend a number of mapping sessions to (re) program the new implant during the first few months after the first activation. The map has to be changed according to the brain’s adjustment to sound. After the first year, an annual mapping appointment is usually sufficient.
Rehabilitation: Rehabilitation post cochlear implantation is an accepted part of the implant process since the brain needs auditory training and exercise to get used to the new sound. Read more on our PATIENTS page.
Auditory verbal rehabilitation: During 2010, Southern ENT sponsored thirteen professionals from around South Africa to complete a yearlong training programme in Auditory Verbal Practice (AVP) under Warren Estabrooks, President and CEO of WE Listen International. The aim of AVP is to enable children with hearing disabilities to communicate through speech. Contact Janet Wiegman at janet.w@southernear.com for more information.
Never too old to be implanted: People who experience age induced hearing loss will be happy to know that there are no age restrictions on cochlear implants! If you are told that “hearing aids will no longer help/nothing more can be done”, a referral to a cochlear implant clinic might be that last resort. Contact us to connect you with your nearest cochlear implant team for an evaluation.
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