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The transition to secondary education is a sensitive period for social and academic development and also for student identity. However, there is scarce evidence of the development of reading comprehension and theory of mind in pupils with cochlear implant (CI) during the educational trajectory. The results show that pupils with CI obtain age-appropriate reading scores during the educational transition. Theory of mind development seems to be heterogeneous in CI users and be affected after the educational transition compared to their own performance in the first wave. This variability could be related to adaptation to secondary education and their individual characteristics.

The acquisition of effective reading comprehension for adolescents with a cochlear implant (CI) in inclusive settings is crucial for ensuring the benefit of current traditional reading curricula and instructional practices. Executive functions (EF) are recognized as important cognitive processes during reading by students with typical hearing (TH). This study compared the relationship between EF and reading comprehension in adolescents with TH and a CI. Three tests sessions were performed on two groups of adolescents between 12 and 16 years old (36 with CI and 54 with TH). Reading comprehension was assessed by a standardized reading battery and EF by computerized tests. The results indicated that adolescents with CI perform EF tasks with a similar efficiency as the TH group, but the performance of CI group on expository texts was lower than in TH students. Reading comprehension of expository texts was related to inhibition and shifting in adolescents with CI.