Background:
Cochlear implant (CI) eligibility criteria have broadened to include individuals with partial deafness (PD), a condition in which prior to implantation a significant amount of low frequency hearing remains. Partial Deafness Treatment (PDT) with cochlear implants, gives the patient the ability to perceive high frequency sounds to complement low frequency acoustic hearing. There is a lack of information concerning the educational status of children after PDT. This study reports the demographics, speech perception abilities, and educational setting of PD children before cochlear implantation and 5 to 7 years later.

Material and Methods:
The study group consisted of 18 children who had undergone cochlear implantation using the round window hearing preservation procedure. The average time of device use in the group was 5.9 years (range 5.1–7.4 years). The average age at implantation was 9.9 years (range 4.1–15.0 years). A retrospective review of patient charts was done. Their previous and current school setting was assessed with a survey distributed to the parents of these children.

Results:
Prior to implantation, 89% of children were being educated in mainstream schools and 11% were attending schools for the deaf and hard of hearing. After 5 to 7 years of implant use, the percentage of children in a mainstream setting was 83% and 17% were in special education.

Conclusions:
Successfully inclusion of hearing impaired children into the mainstream education system is one of the major goals of cochlear implantation. Although the study group was small, it appears that children after PDT, whose speech perception substantially improves after cochlear implantation, may continue their education in a mainstream setting.