Importance of auditory-verbal education and parents' participation after cochlear implantation of very young children.

Congenitally deaf children who receive a cochlear implant at a young age have the potential to achieve nearly normal language development. However, parents and rehabilitation therapists must realize that intensive and long-duration auditory-verbal education is required postoperatively to achieve this goal. Furthermore, the success of the therapeutic treatment is best realized if the parents themselves are trained to engage in linguistic interactions with the child within the natural context of the family. This is especially true if the parents are able to creatively guide auditory-verbal training on a daily basis. At the Cochlear Implant Center in Hannover, parents receive training and guidance on the following aspects of postimplant rehabilitation: basic components of auditory-verbal education; significance of collaborative efforts between parents and therapists; importance of exercising linguistic interactions on a daily basis; importance of the parents as communication partners; milestones and developmental stages of listening, speech, and language; interpretation of the child's first auditory and communication efforts after implantation; and future integration of the child into school and society.