On the point about a child would have to be implanted at birth in order for it to be of any kind of benefit is just completely inaccurate. Yes, we are born with an "instinct" to develop language. But we do not have the ability to start to process language at birth. That comes a little later. Actually some have commented about 6 months of age. That's actually about the time that a child can start to comprehend some words or sounds. Of course every child will be a little different but below is a common estimate.
I looked around and found quite a few "guide lines" like this and they are all pretty close on the time table.
Of course this all depends on if the child has the kind of hearing loss that can be aided. I'm just saying that waiting till they are a little older doesn't mean it's to late. Even a school age kid can be a benefit from it. It's known that grade school kids can pick up on a new language much faster then most adults can too. My niece (hearing) has learned ASL much better then most of the adults in my family for example. She's now 16 but started learning ASL when she was about 10.
So just wanted to point out that a child who has the kind of hearing that can benefit from a procedure or device does not have to start at birth for it to be helpful to them.
