Cochlear Implant Management and Considerations for Bilingual Families

As the landscape continues to change regarding cochlear implant candidacy and with the diversity of the US population increasing, there is a crucial need for guidelines and tools to evaluate cochlear implant candidates with limited English proficiency (LEP). Hearing healthcare providers should be incorporating language and cultural considerations into their everyday practices. There is limited guidance and access to measures and training, however, on how to adequately evaluate LEP children. This chapter addresses the importance of achieving cultural competency and how to conduct bilingual evaluations. In addition, this chapter highlights currently available audiological and speech tools, with an emphasis on Spanish measures for both audiologists and speech and language pathologists. The benefits of bilingualism, as well as best practices for aural rehabilitation for bilingual families, are examined. Given the scarcity of resources and practice guidelines, this chapter will also identify alternative methods for cochlear implant evaluation (i.e., use of interpreters) and management for bilingual and/or LEP individuals.