Unusually for Deafness and Educational International, the current issue includes two papers from the same authors. However, the topic – sequential bilateral cochlear implants – is so timely that the editors deemed it appropriate to include them both in the same issue. These two papers approach the subject from two different perspectives, that of the young people themselves and that of their parents and teachers.
The first paper, by Julie Mater, Sue Gregory and Sue Archbold, presents the results of interviews with 15 young people with sequential bilateral cochlear implants. They all reported some benefit from the second implant, particularly in respect of localization and listening in noise, but they found that the process of adapting to a second implant was not totally straightforward and required perseverance and support. They reported that they would have valued greater support from professionals.
In the second paper, Julie Mather, Sue Archbold and Sue Gregory report on interviews with 12 parents and 12 teachers who were involved with the same deaf teenagers whose views were reported in the paper discussed above. A major theme of this paper concerns the decision-making process. This process proved to be complex and the parents stressed the importance of enabling the teenagers to take their full part in the decision. Again, the question of the desirability of greater support from professionals was raised, particularly after the second implant. These two papers highlight the fact that adapting to a second implant is a demanding process that requires perseverance.
The third paper, by Alison Marchbank, returns to the question of early detection of hearing loss and the importance of listening to mothers. In this paper, seven mothers of young deaf children were invited to tell their story of the process of detection of hearing loss. Whilst it may be tempting to think that the introduction of newborn hearing screening has solved the problem of early detection, this paper demonstrates the continuing role for mothers and the importance for professionals of listening to the views of mothers.
The three papers together provide different perspectives on the roles of parents and professionals (and later deaf young people) in decision making for deaf children and young people.