This study assessed the hearing function of 35 middle-aged adults with Down's syndrome by means of otoscopy, impedance audiometry, brainstem evoked response audiometry, and pure tone audiometry. The study found brainstem evoked response audiometry useful for routine audiological assessment, as it identified hearing losses of 20 to 90 decibels in…

Ten children (ages 5-6) and 10 adults participated in discrimination and selective adaptation speech perception tasks using a synthetic consonant-vowel continuum. Results support hypotheses of sensory processing differences in younger, normally developing children compared with adults and show that such abilities appear to be related to speech…

Hearing in Noise Test (HINT) list equivalency was examined using 24 listeners (ages 60 to 70) with sensorineural hearing impairments. Four speech conditions were tested, including a quiet condition and three noise conditions. Results found that for the three noise conditions, all lists were within 2dB of the means, indicating list equivalency.…

A study explored gender differences in neonatal transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) by comparing the reproducibility and amplitude of TEOAEs in 392 female and 435 male newborns. Results indicate female newborns had significantly higher response reproducibility and response amplitude. (Contains references.) (CR)

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited cause of mental retardation resulting in developmental delays in males. Atypical outer ear morphology is characteristic of FXS and may serve as a marker for abnormal auditory function. Despite this abnormality, studies of the hearing of young males with FXS are generally lacking. A few studies…

This paper provides guidelines for the audiologic assessment of infants and young children, highlighting recent technologic advances in auditory electrophysiology, acoustic immitance measure procedures, and behavioral audiometric techniques. First, audiologic assessment guidelines developed by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association are…

The paper describes the use of an operant procedure to assess the speech perception of 11 young (7 to 35 months old) hearing impaired children and 11 normally hearing subjects. Subjects were presented with a repeating background stimulus and conditioned to turn their head on presentation of a contrasting syllable. The head-turning responses were…

The manual describes audiology services offered at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD). Components are listed for diagnostic services, instructional services, program development, training, and publications. Testing and reporting procedures for MSSD students are outlined. Testing includes pure-tone air conduction testing, tympanometry,…

Intended for teachers and caregivers of severely handicapped individuals with impaired hearing, the manual provides information about hearing and audiological assessment. Section I presents an overview of the nature of sound and the structure of the ear. Section II describes a number of informal assessment procedures which can be carried out in…

Residual hearing capabilities of nine severely and profoundly retarded deaf-blind children (7-13 years old) were determined with an operant procedure that allowed the children to respond by making a selection between two responses, one which resulted in the presentation of auditory reinforcement or one which resulted in no reinforcement.…

Discussed are the following three major areas which influence the design of individualized programs for deaf adolescents as well as their communication with the world-at-large: attitudes toward communication, understanding the speech of others, and communicating through speech. (BD)

Product noise ratings for a number of laboratory air blowers are reported and several recommendations for reducing laboratory noise from air blowers are given. Relevant noise ratings and methods for measuring noise emission of appliances are discussed. (BB)