The Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) Sensory Aids Study was design
ed to evaluate the benefits for deaf children of the Nucleus 22 Channe
l Cochlear Implant and the Tactaid tactile aid over and above the bene
fits typically achieved through acoustic hearing aids. Triads of child
ren, one wearing a cochlear implant, one wearing a tactile aid and hea
ring aids, and one wearing on ly hearing aids, were matched on a numbe
r of factors, including age, hearing loss, intelligence, speech produc
tion, and spoken language skills. Each triad was enrolled in the CID S
chool and followed for three years. Because all the children were in t
he same educational program, it was possible to separate the effects o
f the device from the effects of instruction. A battery of tests was a
dministered at the beginning of the study and at least annually over t
he three-year period. This chapter contains a detailed description of
the experimental design and the subjects who comprised the sample for
the results described in chapters 7, 8, and 9.