Age-related hearing loss (ARHL), known as presbycusis, is characterized by progressive deterioration of auditory sensitivity, loss of the auditory sensory cells, and central processing functions associated with the aging process. ARHL is the third most prevalent chronic condition in older Americans, after hypertension and arthritis, and is a…

Hearing loss may lead to major changes in the social and emotional aspects of daily life. This follow-up study investigated the effect of hearing-aid use on emotional experience in adults with hearing impairment. Thirteen individuals with impaired hearing were tested before and after 6 months of hearing-aid use, and were compared with 19…

A common misconception about families in the UK who choose to participate in an Auditory Verbal (AV) approach for their child with hearing impairment, is that they are uniformly from affluent backgrounds. It is asserted that the good spoken language outcomes in these children are a product of the child's social background and family's values…

Cultural elements such as language, beliefs about health, and family context play important roles in the uptake of rehabilitation and treatment of deafness. Because of cultural issues, minority groups often do not receive optimal care. Focusing on the Netherlands, the researchers explored how the rehabilitation and counseling of deaf children of…

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. Related to how the medical home is integrated into the EHDI process, 273 items were listed by 48 coordinators, and themes were identified…

This study investigated the effects of irrelevant sounds on the serial recall performance of visually presented digits in a sample of children diagnosed with (central) auditory processing disorders [(C)APD] and age- and span-matched control groups. The irrelevant sounds used were samples of tones and speech. Memory performance was significantly…

Providing unbiased data concerning the outcomes of particular intervention methods is imperative if professionals and parents are to assimilate information which could contribute to an "informed choice". An evaluation of Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) was conducted using a formal assessment of spoken language as an outcome measure. Spoken…

Two studies, each conducted with 10 adults with mild to moderately severe hearing loss, compared the effectiveness of custom in-the-ear (ITE) or over-the-ear (OTE) hearing aid fittings. ITE fittings typically yielded speech intelligibilty that was equal to the better OTE fitting. (Author/CB)

According to the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, between eight and nine million people suffer from some form of deafness or loss of hearing. Modern technology, however, together with the work of audiologists such as Karen Shepherd, enables many adults and children to recover near-normal levels of hearing, even when they have suffered some…

Background/Context: This article returns to and expands upon Cremin's and Garfinkel's ideas about education as work--deliberate, systematic, and sustained work--that changes one's consociates, whether planned or not. That is, education must be seen as occurring everywhere, to and by everyone, in many contexts other than in classrooms or schools.…

Purpose: This study examined the relation of dual and single sensory impairments, within the context of cognitive function, by using the framework of everyday competence in terms of the probability of difficulty with specific personal and instrumental activities of daily living (ADLs and IADLs, respectively). Design and Methods: The Longitudinal…

Explored are various means of amplification for aurally handicapped adolescents, including behind-the-ear hearing aids, "custom ear" (or in-the-ear) hearing aids, as well as aural rehabilitation. (BD)

Materials from the Northwestern University Auditory Test Number 6, spoken by a female speaker, were passed through a low-frequency notch filter, reducing the amplitude range within the spectrum. Data obtained from 12 normal-hearing listeners in filtered and unfiltered conditions demonstrated that alterations to words spoken by the same speaker…

A report based on the results of a man survey of 165 programs for the hearing impaired concerning current and projected availability of certain pieces of media equipment. (Author)

The chapter defines speech perception, raises such questions as the nature of acoustical correlates of linguistic units, reviews available information on the auditory capabilities of hearing impaired listeners (such as detection of the time/intensity envelope and temporal resolution), and addresses the relationship between auditory skills and…