Eye Tracking Shows Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children with Cochlear Implants Read Like Hearing Peers

This study investigated the reading processes of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children with cochlear implants (CIs) in comparison to typically hearing (TH) peers using eye-tracking methodology. While prior research on CI users has primarily focused on the level of reading performance, our approach captured word-by-word reading behavior to examine fixation durations, fixation counts, and regressions.Twenty-two DHH...

Eye-tracking data suggest that cochlear implant users with good outcomes can develop reading processes on par with hearing peers, supporting continued early implantation and literacy intervention; however, clinicians should await replication before altering established protocols.

Demonstrating comparable reading processes in cochlear implant users challenges the assumption that deaf children inevitably develop atypical literacy strategies, with implications for educational placement and rehabilitation goals.

1. 01Eye-tracking revealed deaf/hard-of-hearing children with cochlear implants show reading processes similar to hearing peers.
2. 02Published in American Annals of the Deaf (PMID 42366999).
3. 03Findings challenge assumptions about atypical literacy development in cochlear implant users.
4. 04Results have potential implications for educational support and rehabilitation planning.
5. 05Study design relies on eye-tracking as a proxy for underlying cognitive reading processes.

PMID

42366999

DOI

10.1353/aad.2026.a993573.

Journal

American Annals of the Deaf

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

2b

Population

Deaf and hard-of-hearing children with cochlear implants compared to typically hearing peers

Intervention

Eye-tracking assessment of reading processes in cochlear implant users

Comparator

Typically hearing children