This is a very significant study because future findings showing a similar connection will have an impact on how young certain elective surgeries can be done on children.  

For example, cochlear implant surgeries are done on deaf and hard of hearing children as young as 3-6 months old.  Cochlear implants are considered elective surgeries for non-life threatening conditions.  With this study, the risk of doing cochlear implant surgeries on both sides may far outweigh the benefit of environmental awareness of sounds and perhaps some ability to hear within the speech range.

With this study bringing the newly discovered risks to light, parents need to be clearly informed of the significant risk of the child developing learning disabilities.  Also, the parents need to be informed that using American Sign Language with the child immediately when identified as Deaf or hard of hearing is considered a safe and effective way for achieving early language acquisition and age appropriate language development.  According to several studies, learning American Sign Language will not delay or harm a child's ability to develop speech and language.  There's no reason to have the cochlear implant surgeries done during the first 2-3 years of a child's life with such high risks of also developing learning disabilities.