When to do a cochlear implant

Deaf kids who get a cochlear implant prior to 13 months are able to learn words as well as normal-hearing kids. Deaf kids who get the implant later are not.

(T)he findings suggest that early access to auditory input, even if the access to sound is quite impoverished, plays an important role in acquiring the ability to rapidly learn associations between spoken words and their meanings.

Early sensory experiences affect the way the brain wires itself. Parents need to decide early if they're going to do this. I've never had a kid with serious medical issues, but I can't see the issue here. Of course you do a cochlear implant if you have a deaf kid who is a good candidate for it. I understand there will be kids for whom it is not right, but for those for whom it is right, it is right. Said the Tautology Kid.