Minimal Hearing Loss: Implications and Management Options for Educational Settings

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia McCormick Richburg ◽  
Annah L. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Auditory Systems ◽  
The Impact

Audibility, which refers to the ability of sound to be heard, is not sufficient for listening and learning environments, such as school classrooms. Speech intelligibility, not audibility, is the key to understanding and, therefore, must be addressed for all children, especially those who have some amount of hearing loss. It is well documented that children's central auditory systems are not fully myelinated or mature until the age of 10 to 12 years (Moore, 2002; Musiek, Gollegly, & Baran, 1984). School-age children have “developing” auditory systems due to their poorer sensitivity (when compared to adults) to small acoustic cues in speech, such as voice-onset time and formant-frequency transition (Elliott, 1986; Elliott, Longinotti, Meyer, Raz, & Zucker, 1981). Children are also less able to selectively attend to auditory tasks, have difficulty recognizing speech distorted by reverberation, and have problems with speech intelligibility in background noise and reverberation plus noise (Finitzo-Hieber & Tillman, 1978; Neuman & Hochberg, 1983; Stuart, 2005). Therefore, children under the age of 13 years (i.e., those in elementary and middle school) have been described as “special listeners” (Nabelek & Nabelek, 1994). This article describes minimal hearing loss (MHL), the poor acoustics found in educational environments, and the impact of those acoustics on children with MHL. In addition, this article reviews environmental modifications that can be made to improve classroom acoustics. This article offers multiple researchers' strategies for better access to listening and learning, including soundfield amplification options for improving the signal-to-noise ratio in classroom settings.

scholarly journals Research Insights on Neural Effects of Auditory Deprivation and Restoration in Unilateral Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 812 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jolijn Vanderauwera ◽  
Elisabeth Hellemans ◽  
Nicolas Verhaert
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Unilateral Hearing Loss ◽  
Auditory Input ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
Functional Neuroplasticity ◽  
The Impact

Neuroplasticity following bilateral deafness and auditory restoration has been repeatedly investigated. In clinical practice, however, a significant number of patients present a severe-to-profound unilateral hearing loss (UHL). To date, less is known about the neuroplasticity following monaural hearing deprivation and auditory input restoration. This article provides an overview of the current research insights on the impact of UHL on the brain and the effect of auditory input restoration with a cochlear implant (CI). An exhaustive systematic review of the literature was performed selecting 38 studies that apply different neural analyses techniques. The main results show that the hearing ear becomes functionally dominant after monaural deprivation, reshaping the lateralization of the neural network for auditory processing, a process that can be considered to influence auditory restoration. Furthermore, animal models predict that the onset time of UHL impacts auditory restoration. Hence, the results seem to advocate for early restoration of UHL, although further research is required to disambiguate the effects of duration and onset of UHL on auditory restoration and on structural neuroplasticity following UHL deprivation and restoration. Ongoing developments on CI devices compatible with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) examinations will provide a unique opportunity to investigate structural and functional neuroplasticity following CI restoration more directly.

The Impact of Reduced Speech Intelligibility on Reaction Time in a Naval Combat Environment

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 1570-1574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Sheffield ◽  
John Ziriax ◽  
M. David Keller ◽  
William Barns ◽  
Douglas Brungart
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Noise Exposure ◽  
Impaired Hearing ◽  
Perceived Workload ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
And Performance ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Impact

Despite attempts to limit noise exposure, noise-induced hearing loss remains prevalent in the military. Both hearing loss and the noise itself can lead to communication issues which could negatively impact operational performance. This study builds upon a series of experiments examining the relationship between reduced speech intelligibility and performance in a naval command and control environment by equipping Navy watch standers with hearing loss simulators that control speech intelligibility in real time as they were engaged in a simulated operational scenario. This effort focused on the effects that a Sailor with impaired hearing might have on unimpaired shipmates and how the mission might specifically be impacted. Results showed that as speech intelligibility decreased for the impaired watch stander perceived workload increased in an unimpaired shipmate and the latency of the crew to respond to incoming missile threats and a direct order to kill an enemy ship increased significantly.

scholarly journals Noise-Induced Change of Cortical Temporal Processing in Cochlear Implant Users

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Hye Han ◽  
Jihyun Lee ◽  
Hyo-Jeong Lee
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Temporal Processing ◽  
Auditory Evoked Potentials ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Noise Signal ◽  
Noise Masking ◽  
Cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials

Objectives. Cochlear implant (CI) users typically report impaired ability to understand speech in noise. Speech understanding in CI users decreases with noise due to reduced temporal processing ability, and speech perceptual errors involve stop consonants distinguished by voice onset time (VOT). The current study examined the effects of noise on various speech perception tests while at the same time used cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) to quantify the change of neural processing of speech sounds caused by noise. We hypothesized that the noise effects on VOT processing can be reflected in N1/P2 measures, the neural changes relate to behavioral speech perception performances.Methods. Ten adult CI users and 15 normal-hearing (NH) people participated in this study. CAEPs were recorded from 64 scalp electrodes in both quiet and noise (signal-to-noise ratio +5 dB) and in passive and active (requiring consonant discrimination) listening. Speech stimulus was synthesized consonant-vowels with VOTs of 0 and 50 ms. N1-P2 amplitudes and latencies were analyzed as a function of listening condition. For the active condition, the P3b also was analyzed. Behavioral measures included a variety of speech perception tasks.Results. For good performing CI users, performance in most speech test was lower in the presence of noise masking. N1 and P2 latencies became prolonged with noise masking. The P3b amplitudes were smaller in CI groups compared to NH. The degree of P2 latency change (0 vs. 50 ms VOT) was correlated with consonant perception in noise.Conclusion. The effects of noise masking on temporal processing can be reflected in cortical responses in CI users. N1/P2 latencies were more sensitive to noise masking than amplitude measures. Additionally, P2 responses appear to have a better relationship to speech perception in CI users compared to N1.

scholarly journals Perception–Production Links in Children's Speech

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 853-867 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna H. Lowenstein ◽  
Susan Nittrouer
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Spectral Measures ◽  
Signal Degradation ◽  
Children With Hearing Loss ◽  
Production Capacities

Purpose Child phonologists have long been interested in how tightly speech input constrains the speech production capacities of young children, and the question acquires clinical significance when children with hearing loss are considered. Children with sensorineural hearing loss often show differences in the spectral and temporal structures of their speech production, compared to children with normal hearing. The current study was designed to investigate the extent to which this problem can be explained by signal degradation. Method Ten 5-year-olds with normal hearing were recorded imitating 120 three-syllable nonwords presented in unprocessed form and as noise-vocoded signals. Target segments consisted of fricatives, stops, and vowels. Several measures were made: 2 duration measures (voice onset time and fricative length) and 4 spectral measures involving 2 segments (1st and 3rd moments of fricatives and 1st and 2nd formant frequencies for the point vowels). Results All spectral measures were affected by signal degradation, with vowel production showing the largest effects. Although a change in voice onset time was observed with vocoded signals for /d/, voicing category was not affected. Fricative duration remained constant. Conclusions Results support the hypothesis that quality of the input signal constrains the speech production capacities of young children. Consequently, it can be concluded that the production problems of children with hearing loss—including those with cochlear implants—can be explained to some extent by the degradation in the signal they hear. However, experience with both speech perception and production likely plays a role as well.

Effects of Speech Rate, Background Noise, and Simulated Hearing Loss on Speech Rate Judgment and Speech Intelligibility in Young Listeners

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (01) ◽  
pp. 028-039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Adams ◽  
Robert E. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Moderate Correlation ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Noise Ratio

Purpose: To study the effect of noise on speech rate judgment and signal-to-noise ratio threshold (SNR50) at different speech rates (slow, preferred, and fast). Research Design: Speech rate judgment and SNR50 tasks were completed in a normal-hearing condition and a simulated hearing-loss condition. Study Sample: Twenty-four female and six male young, normal-hearing participants. Results: Speech rate judgment was not affected by background noise regardless of hearing condition. Results of the SNR50 task indicated that, as speech rate increased, performance decreased for both hearing conditions. There was a moderate correlation between speech rate judgment and SNR50 with the various speech rates, such that as judgment of speech rate increased from too slow to too fast, performance deteriorated. Conclusions: These findings can be used to support the need for counseling patients and their families about the potential advantages to using average speech rates or rates that are slightly slowed while conversing in the presence of background noise.

Acoustic Dimensions of Hearing-Impaired Speakers' Intelligibility

1985 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale Evan Metz ◽  
Vincent J. Samar ◽  
Nicholas Schiavetti ◽  
Ronald W. Sitler ◽  
Robert L. Whitehead
Keyword(s):  
Principal Components ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Voice Onset Time ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Spatial Differentiation ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Prosodic Features ◽  
Hearing Ability ◽  
Two Factors

Regression and principal components analyses were employed to study the relationship between three measures of speech intelligibility and 12 segmental, prosodic, and hearing ability parameters in 20 severely to profoundly hearing-impaired speakers. Regression analyses on the original 12 parameters revealed that cognate pair voice onset time differences and mean sentence duration strongly predicted speech intelligibility based on readings of isolated word and contextual speech material. A principal components analysis derived four factors that accounted for the majority of the variance in the original 12 parameters. Subsequent regression analyses using the four factors as predictor variables revealed two factors with strong relationships to the speech intelligibility measures. One factor primarily reflected segmental production processes related to the temporal and spatial differentiation of phonemes, whereas the other factor reflected prosodic features and production stability. These results are consistent with prior research that suggests independent primary and secondary roles for segmental and prosodic speech characteristics, respectively, in determining intelligibility in severely to profoundly hearing-impaired speakers.

Korean Clear Speech Improves Speech Intelligibility for Individuals with Normal Hearing and Individuals with Hearing Loss

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Su Yeon Shin ◽  
Hongyeop Oh ◽  
In-Ki Jin
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Conversational Speech ◽  
Clear Speech ◽  
Mixed Model Analysis ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis

Abstract Background Clear speech is an effective communication strategy to improve speech intelligibility. While clear speech in several languages has been shown to significantly benefit intelligibility among listeners with differential hearing sensitivities and across environments of different noise levels, whether these results apply to Korean clear speech is unclear on account of the language's unique acoustic and linguistic characteristics. Purpose This study aimed to measure the intelligibility benefits of Korean clear speech relative to those of conversational speech among listeners with normal hearing and hearing loss. Research Design We used a mixed-model design that included both within-subject (effects of speaking style and listening condition) and between-subject (hearing status) elements. Data Collection and Analysis We compared the rationalized arcsine unit scores, which were transformed from the number of keywords recognized and repeated, between clear and conversational speech in groups with different hearing sensitivities across five listening conditions (quiet and 10, 5, 0, and –5 dB signal-to-noise ratio) using a mixed model analysis. Results The intelligibility scores of Korean clear speech were significantly higher than those of conversational speech under most listening conditions in all groups; the former yielded increases of 6 to 32 rationalized arcsine units in intelligibility. Conclusion The present study provides information on the actual benefits of Korean clear speech for listeners with varying hearing sensitivities. Audiologists or hearing professionals may use this information to establish communication strategies for Korean patients with hearing loss.

An objective evaluation method and experiment on the impact of road traffic noise on the soundscape: The case of West Lake

2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (4) ◽  
pp. 2851-2862
Author(s):  
Jiping Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
Objective Evaluation ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
West Lake ◽  
The Impact

A positively judged soundscape generally includes both natural and social/cultural sounds in the sonic environment. Road traffic noise (RTN) is a major source of sound that may impact the both, such as the case of West Lake. Many studies examine soundscapes contexts with RTN based on physical descriptors, and subjective social scientific assessments by their descriptors mainly using onsite questionnaires to develop an understanding of the situation. By application of an objective evaluation method borrowed from speech intelligibility measurement techniques defined as the signal-to-noise-ratio-loss in the presence of RTN, research of the correlation between background RTN and environmental soundscape is developed by a self contained and evident proof derivation, proposed an objective evaluation method for protecting the soundscape from RTN, and presented the design and performance of an experiment to verify the method at two roads where RTN is propagated a distance into two roadside urban parks at West Lake. Our goal is the assessment and protection of the environmental soundscape from RTN using a convenient objective evaluation method that supplements cumbersome subjective investigations, provides an early warning concerning the RTN impact to the soundscape, and a tool how to improve the soundscape within the RTN impacted areas.

Speech Deterioration in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1269-1275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond D. Kent ◽  
Robert L. Sufit ◽  
John C. Rosenbek ◽  
Jane F. Kent ◽  
Gary Weismer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Pulmonary Function ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Word Identification ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Observation Interval ◽  
Formant Frequency ◽  
Phonetic Features ◽  
Second Formant ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Few detailed reports have been published on the nature of speech and voice changes during the course of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The subject of this case study is a woman who was diagnosed as having ALS with bulbar signs at the age of 53. Speech intelligibility, pulmonary function, and selected speech and voice functions were tested during an approximately 2-year course of her disease. Over this period, her speech intelligibility, as measured by a multiplechoice word identification test, declined from 98% to 48%. Phonetic features that were most affected during the intelligibility decline included voicing contrast for syllable-initial and syllablefinal consonants, place of articulation contrasts for lingual consonants, manner of articulation for lingual consonants, stop versus nasal manner of production, features related to the liquid consonants, and various features related to syllable shape. An acoustic measure, average slope of the second-formant frequency, declined in association with the intelligibility reduction and is thought to reflect the loss of lingual motoneurons. Her pulmonary function also declined over the observation interval, with particularly severe reduction in measures of air flow. Oral diadochokinesis and measures of vocal function (including jitter, shimmer, and signal-to-noise ratio) were highly variable across test sessions. These results are discussed in terms of the challenges they present to sensitive assessment of change and to management of the communication disability in ALS.

Current Perspectives on Minimal and Mild Permanent Hearing Loss in Children

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 28-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Marie Tharpe
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Mild Hearing Loss ◽  
Psychosocial Challenges ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Classroom Seating

Over the last several decades, audiologists, speech-language pathologists (SLPs), and educators have learned a great deal about the impact of permanent minimal/ mild hearing loss (MMHL) on children. Once considered a problem that could be easily managed by preferential positioning of the listener relative to the talker of interest or, in the case of school-age children, preferential classroom seating, research has accumulated over the last several decades concluding that children with MMHL are at risk of significant educational and psychosocial challenges. Despite the term minimal, no longer is a MMHL viewed as being inconsequential. The following sections will describe our current knowledge about MMHL in children and what we have left to discover.

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