Q: What is a cochlear implant? A: A cochlear implant is an electronic device that enables deaf patients to hear by electrically stimulating the auditory nerve. It consists mainly of a speech processor outside the body, a coil, and a receiving stimulator and electrodes that need to be surgically implanted in the ear. Q: Who is suitable for cochlear implantation? A: Patients with confirmed severe or profound sensorineural deafness in both ears, who are at least 1 year old and have no contraindications to the surgery. Q: Is the cochlear implant technology mature and what are the main risks? A: Cochlear implantation is a medium-sized otologic procedure and with over 10,000 implants, the technology is very mature. The main risks are post-operative facial paralysis, infection, and implant failure requiring reimplantation. Q: Can I hear sound immediately after cochlear implantation? A: Generally, the cochlear implant is worn one month after surgery and the speech processor is turned on, at which point the patient can actually hear the outside world. This is also known as “turning on” the cochlear implant. Q: Is the sound of a cochlear implant the same as what we hear in a normal person? A: No, it is not. According to the patient’s description, the sound is similar to that of a “robot” or “alien”, which is also determined by the working principle of the cochlear implant. After scientific tuning and rehabilitation, the implantee will be able to recognize these voices more and more accurately, and the sounds they make will be closer and closer to those of a normal person. Q: Do I need rehabilitation training after cochlear implantation? A: Except for a very small number of patients who have a good auditory language foundation, most patients still need scientific auditory speech-language rehabilitation training, the timing and modality of which varies depending on the patient’s age, as well as their preoperative auditory experience and speech-language foundation. Some younger children also need to undergo sensory integration, cognitive and other related rehabilitative training. Q: Where should I go for post-operative rehabilitation? A: Currently, rehabilitation resources are concentrated in a few large rehabilitation hospitals, centers for deaf children under the Disabled Persons’ Federation in various cities, and private language training centers in provincial capitals. Since the country still lacks standardized professional accreditation, there are inevitably mixed standards. Q: Do parents need to be involved in the rehabilitation process? A: For young children, parents, especially parents, must be involved in the entire rehabilitation process, and their active participation is even more important than a good rehabilitation teacher; even for adults or post-speech deaf patients, the role of family members should not be ignored. Q: How long does systematic in-institutional rehabilitation usually take? A: If a child with prelingual deafness goes to a regular institution for auditory speech and language rehabilitation immediately after opening, he or she can be discharged from the institution after six months and enrolled in a normal daycare or kindergarten in better conditions; in most cases, it takes about one year; there are also poor conditions, such as older age at surgery and abnormal auditory nerve development, which may require a longer period of systematic training. However, the rehabilitation of cochlear implant recipients should last a lifetime and not be completed in a short period of time. Q: After rehabilitation, can I speak like a normal person? A: Most patients with cochlear implants are able to speak like normal people and integrate into mainstream society without any obstacles after rebuilding their hearing and undergoing scientific rehabilitation.