It is not yet possible to predict precisely how well you or your child will perform
with a cochlear implant. 

Progress is affected by many factors including the physiology of the ear, duration of deafness, age at implantation, personal motivation and family/social environment.

All Bionic Ear users will be able to detect sounds whilst others will succeed in understanding speech without lip-reading and will be able to use the telephone.

For some, learning to listen with an implant is a long slow process, for others it is a matter of a few weeks before they regain their communication abilities.

Adults who suffer sudden hearing loss due to illness and who are implanted shortly after, often successfully regain their communication abilities. Within a very short time, they are able to understand speech without the aid of lip-reading and to use the telephone.

Adults with cochlear implants have demonstrated improvements in understanding speech in challenging listening environments (such as noisy reverberant rooms with large groups of people) particularly when able to combine their improved auditory skills with lip-reading.

Generally, over time, all users continue to show improvements in understanding and producing speech.