Literacy outcomes in deaf students with cochlear implants: current state of the knowledge

The purpose of this paper is to examine the available peer-reviewed research regarding literacy achievement in deaf children
with cochlear implants. A related goal is to identify gaps in the empirical literature and suggest directions for future research.
Included in this review are studies that exclusively report reading and writing outcomes for groups of students. A total of 21
studies were identified, representing those published over approximately a 20-year time period (1997–2016) and collectively
reporting the literacy outcomes for over 1,000 cochlear implant users. Overall findings of the studies of reading
comprehension suggest that the majority of participants achieved scores in the average range, although a wide-range of
variability was reported. Only 3 studies of writing were available for review, with 2 reporting lower achievement in this area
as compared to reading. Factors impacting outcomes achieved such as age at implantation, presence of additional
disabilities, consistency of device use, and communication modality are explored and summarized.