Cochlear Americas Launches New Rehabilitation Program for Cochlear Implant Recipients

Sound and WAY Beyond Allows Adults and Teens to Perfect Their Listening Skills at Home

Denver - April 27, 2009 - Cochlear Americas, the world's leader in advanced hearing technologies, today announced the launch of Sound and WAY Beyond, a new, interactive listening rehabilitation program for adults and teens with cochlear implants.

The Sound and WAY Beyond CD-ROM features self-paced modules designed to improve recipients' understanding of vowels, consonants and sentences. The program includes over 10,000 words and sentences for adults and teens at all skill levels. Sound and WAY Beyond allows for individual results to be summarized and printed to help cochlear implant recipients hold meaningful discussions with their audiologist and therapist.

"Rehabilitation is critical for people with cochlear implants to achieve their maximum benefit, yet we know that many teens and adults are not participating in clinic rehabilitation services," said Donna Sorkin, Vice President, Consumer Affairs, Cochlear Americas. "Sound and WAY Beyond will be a tremendous help to recipients in various situations, including telephone use, music enjoyment and understanding speech in noise."

Based on computer-assisted speech training software developed by the House Ear Institute, Cochlear's Sound and WAY Beyond modifies clinical therapy techniques to allow cochlear implant recipients to practice and perfect their listening skills at home.

"Recent research demonstrates that computer-assisted speech training programs may improve speech recognition for cochlear implant recipients," said Nancy Caleffe-Schenck, M.Ed., CCC-A, LSLS Cert. AVT, Director, Auditory-Verbal Services, Inc. "Home activities like Sound and WAY Beyond may maximize the development of these skills in an individual with a cochlear implant."

Sound and WAY Beyond is available to all cochlear implant recipients and is included in all adult Nucleus Freedom systems. The program is also offered at a reduced price for Nucleus recipients, clinicians and educators. To place an order, visit www.cochlearamericas.com/store or call  (800) 523-5798  .

About Cochlear Americas

Cochlear Americas is the world's leader in advanced hearing technologies. Since launching the first multichannel cochlear implant system more than 25 years ago, Cochlear Limited and its U.S. headquarters have brought the miracle of sound to more than 150,000 hearing-impaired individuals across the globe. Cochlear Americas' state-of-the-art cochlear implant technology, based on extensive research and development at preeminent academic institutions, provides the ability to hear sound and better understand speech, enhancing both learning capabilities and quality of life for those with severe-to-profound hearing loss. Cochlear Americas also markets an implantable bone-anchored hearing device for treatment of conductive and mixed hearing loss, as well as single-sided deafness. For more information about Cochlear Americas' products, call the Cochlear Hotline at  800/458-4999  (Voice) or  800/483-3123  (TTY) or visit www.cochlearamericas.com.

About HOPE

HOPE is a rehabilitation resources program from Cochlear Americas designed to support the cochlear implant community and the professionals who serve them. Rehabilitation is critical for adults to achieve the maximum benefit from a cochlear implant. Auditory training can help in listening situations including using the telephone, enjoying music and understanding speech in noise. The HOPE program provides free online training for adult cochlear implant recipients as well as other guides and materials to aid in rehabilitation. For more information, visit the HOPE area of the Cochlear Web site at www.cochlear.com/HOPE.

About the House Ear Institute

The House Ear Institute (HEI) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to advancing hearing science through research and education to improve quality of life. HEI scientists investigate the cellular and molecular causes of hearing loss and related auditory disorders as well as neurological processes pertaining to the human auditory system and the brain. Our researchers also explore technology advancements to improve auditory implants, hearing aids, diagnostic techniques and rehabilitation tools. Qian-Jie Fu, Ph.D., Department of Auditory Implants and Perception at the House Ear Institute, is the lead researcher on the computer-assisted speech training (CAST) software used to create the Sound and WAY Beyond program. The Institute shares its knowledge with the scientific and medical communities as well as the general public through its education and outreach programs. For more information about HEI, please call  (800) 388-8612  or visit www.hei.org.