State coordinators of early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) programs completed a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, or SWOT, analysis that examined 12 areas within state EHDI programs. For audiological evaluation and services, 299 items were listed by 49 coordinators, and themes were identified within each SWOT category.…

The main purpose of the present study was to assess special needs for students with hearing impairment. The sample of the study consisted of 231 students enrolled at schools for deaf children in Jordan, 113 males and 118 females. A special needs scale was developed and used in assessing special needs for students. The reliability and validity of…

In North Carolina, the eligibility criteria for enrollment in Part C early intervention services do not exclude infants and toddlers based on the severity or laterality of hearing loss. As such, the state's early intervention population represents a widely diverse array of children ranging from those with minimal to profound hearing losses. While…

Aim: The aim of this study was to elucidate factors related to the high rate of mental health disorders seen in those with impaired hearing, including social factors and audiological measures. Method: A representative sample of 95 pupils (47 females, 48 males; mean age 11y 1mo, range 6y 5mo to 16y, SD 2y 7mo) with hearing impairments of at least…

Purpose. The primary purpose of this study was to assess whether very early access to speech sounds provided by the cochlear implant enabled children with severe to profound hearing loss to develop age-appropriate phonological awareness abilities during their preschool years. A secondary purpose of this study was to examine whether preschoolage…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine children's head orientation relative to the arrival angle of competing signals and the sound source of interest in actual school settings. These data were gathered to provide information relative to the potential for directional benefit. Method: Forty children, 4-17 years of age, with and without…

This article presents an interview with Dr. Dolores E. Battle, a professor of speech-language pathology and senior advisor to the president for equity and campus diversity at Buffalo State College. She is a former president of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (in 2005) and a very active member of international organizations of both…

A method that allows direct comparisons between pure-tone loudness-matching and intensity-discrimination data in normal and hearing impaired listeners is described. (Author)

The investigation explored effects of stimulus level on frequency discrimination of long- and short-duration pure tones by five subjects with normal hearing and seven with sensorineural hearing impairments. The performance of hearing impaired subjects was poorer than normal for 300-ms tones but not for 5-ms tones. (Author/DB)

Earlier evidence was not conclusive about whether hearing loss is associated with mood (i.e., depressive symptoms and anhedonia) and social engagement (i.e., reduced psychosocial involvement and reduced activity levels) in elderly residents living in complex continuing-care facilities. If hearing impairment results in poor mood and lower levels of…

Binaural loudness summation was measured using three different paradigms with 10 normally hearing and 20 bilaterally symmetrical high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss subjects. Binaural summation increased with presentation level using the loudness matching procedure, with values in the 6-10 dB range. Summation decreased with level using the…

Input-output (I/O) functions of hearing aids were measured in response to a 2000 Hz tone burst, having 0.5 ms rise/fall time and 10 ms duration. Findings indicated that the steady-state output limitation characteristics of hearing aids cannot be estimated from their onset responses. (Author/DB)

Ninetieth percentile cutoffs for acoustic reflex thresholds (ART) were determined for a sample of 1,374 adult subjects with normal hearing and sensorineural loss of cochlear origin. It was found that 12.2 percent had one ear ART elevated above the ninetieth percentile, but only 5.6 percent had more than one elevated ART. (DB)

This study investigated the views of parents, newborn hearing screeners and Telethon Speech and Hearing (TSH) professionals of the Western Australian Infant Screening for Hearing (WISH) Program. Three questionnaires were used to gather information from the participants. Sixteen responses to the questionnaire were obtained (five parents, five…

Children with unilateral hearing loss (UHL) are at risk for academic, speech and language and social-emotional difficulties. To date, most of the evidence documented in the literature has been obtained from school-age children, most of whom were diagnosed with UHL after enrollment in school. Following the widespread institution of universal…