Marcia Hay-McCutcheon, Ph.D., CCC-A, The University of Alabama, International Journal of Audiology, October 2013, Vol. 52 No. 10: Cochlear Implant Patient Assessment: Evaluation of Candidacy, Performance, and Outcomes is a very well written resource that provides essential and practical information for students, professionals and academicians. This concise yet comprehensive book can be used in both clinical and academic environments. It very nicely fills a gap that current cochlear implant resources, which primarily focus on speech processing, anatomical, and behavioral outcome information, have not typically provided. The limited number of books on cochlear implants that vary in scope makes it challenging for faculty to plan a seminar or course on cochlear implants that provides broad and relevant information. This book explores topics that all speech-language pathology and audiology graduate students will find extremely helpful, and consequently, will allow faculty to more easily provide this necessary information to their students. It can easily be used as a companion book to the other academic cochlear implant resources that are available. Furthermore, each topic within the book is very well researched with extensive references provided which will further aid faculty and students. As stated by the author, this book is not intended to provide extensive scholarly information on speech processing strategies, auditory physiology, or cochlear modeling but rather it is meant to be a valuable compliment to those resources by providing more clinically-based information. Clinically-based research studies are provided throughout each chapter that help the student understand the importance of evidenced-based practice. The content of the book is logically organized with initial chapters providing the necessary background information for cochlear implant candidacy in addition to the selection process for cochlear implantation; the middle chapters convey information on assessment of traditional and non-traditional candidates, and the last chapter discusses avenues for further research and understanding. Additionally, within each chapter, a brief introduction to the topic is presented which is followed by a synopsis of the covered topics at the end of the chapter. Of particular interest in this book is the information provided about non-traditional candidates for cochlear implantation and the changing criteria for implantation. Also, the final chapter touches upon a number of topics that will require further research as the field progresses (e.g., cognitive decline, listening effort, multi-sensory assessment, auditory-related fatigue, bimodal issues). Greater understanding of these topics will hopefully enhance the clinical care for cochlear implant recipients. In summary, this book will serve as a practical guide for clinicians working with cochlear implant recipients and graduate students in the fields of speech language pathology and audiology.
