After reading the May 28 article regarding cochlear implants, I felt that I should respond. As a profoundly deaf person and a graduate of Gallaudet University, I was greatly disturbed by the statement that the average profoundly deaf child has the reading level of a 2nd or 3rd grader when he or she graduates from high school without the benefit of a cochlear implant. For the record, I could not have entered or graduated from Gallaudet University with the reading level of a 2nd or 3rd grader. This is true for many of the profoundly deaf students who attended this university.
I am also aware of the fact that not all deaf children achieve success after having this implant. If there are still deaf children who are at a 2nd- or 3rd-grade reading level when they graduate from high school, then it shows that there is a problem with the educational system for the deaf rather than how miraculous a cochlear implant can be.
