Children can only develop spoken language through consistent exposure to the acoustic cues that comprise speech and language. Until recently, hearing levels from the clinical audiogram were the primary measure used to define typical hearing and the presence or degree of a child's hearing loss. While the clinical audiogram remains an important…

Purpose: Down syndrome occurs in one of 700 births, and high rates of hearing loss are reported in this population. This puts children with Down syndrome at risk for communication, learning, and social development difficulties, compounding known language and cognitive vulnerabilities in this population. The purpose of this study was to…

Simultaneous recordings of auditory brainstem and middle latency responses were obtained in both vertex-ipsilateral and vertex-contralateral derivations in 22 children, ages 8-12. For specific recording conditions, the latencies of middle latency responses differ significantly between children with and without learning disabilities, offering…

Sensitivity and specificity of static acoustic admittance (SAA) and tympanometric width (TW) were assessed for 116 pediatric patients. A statistically significant change in SAA was observed in immediate repeat measures. No significant change across the two sequential measures was observed for TW, peak pressure, or the estimate of ear canal volume.…

Measures of transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE) reproducibility were obtained for 506 ears of 260 children and young adults. Findings suggest that TEOAEs provide useful information in routine clinical practice and may be employed to screen for the presence of hearing loss in children and young adults. (DB)

Measures of both temporal and spectral parameters were computed to determine the extent of perseveratory coarticulation in the vowel-consonant syllables produced by 7- and 10-year-old children (n=9). Profoundly hearing-impaired speakers exhibited measurable but smaller effects of perseveratory coarticulation relative to the normally hearing…

Variability of aided sound field thresholds (ASFTs) was examined in 30 hearing-impaired children comprising 2 age groups (5-9 and 10-14 years). Findings showed that 2 ASFTs would have to differ by more than 10 decibels across signal test frequencies to attain statistical significance. (Author/DB)

Discusses the techniques used in Japan to assess and monitor the acquisition of auditory skills by hearing-impaired children. Suggests that digits, syllables, and word lists are more suited to adults. Proposes the use of words, sounds, and music familiar to children in combination with instruments based on observation of daily activities in either…

Examined the effectiveness of the Aided Articulation Index (AAI) in the evaluation of the fitting of hearing aids, using a sample of hearing-impaired children in a kindergarten and primary school for the deaf in Japan. Found that AAI decreased with hearing threshold level and an AAI of 0.3 is necessary for children to function effectively with…