A considerable body of research has demonstrated the negative impact of moderate-profound hearing loss on development of functional auditory skills in children. The effects of milder degrees of hearing loss are less clear. Although many studies have shown that children with minimal hearing loss (MHL) may experience delays in a number of areas, other studies have shown performance similar to that of normal-hearing peers on some measures or that these children may """"""""catch-up"""""""" in specific areas as they get older. Difficulties understanding speech in adverse listening environments have the potential to delay the development of speech and language skills, which may, in turn, affect academic and social development. However, at present, there does not appear to be a consensus on the difficulties experienced by children with MHL. A systematic examination of a range of functional skills that support language and learning is needed. In the proposed work, innovative studies will be carried out to better quantify difficulties experienced by children with MHL. Results of the proposed studies will provide critical information regarding the impact of functional auditory and language skills that support learning in children with MHL, thus improving management of this population. ? Relevance: The proposed research will enhance our understanding of factors that affect auditory perception, speech, language, and learning in children with minimal hearing loss. At present there is no consensus on the difficulties experienced by this population and, as a group, they are probably underserved. The results of proposed studies will lead to greater clarity about the auditory and educational needs of this population. ? ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Small Research Grants (R03)
Project #
1R03DC009675-01
Application #
7520525
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZDC1-SRB-C (25))
Program Officer
Sklare, Dan
Project Start
2008-06-24
Project End
2011-05-31
Budget Start
2008-06-24
Budget End
2009-05-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$143,930
Indirect Cost
Name
Father Flanagan's Boys' Home
Department
Type
DUNS #
073136806
City
Boys Town
State
NE
Country
United States
Zip Code
68010
Lewis, Dawna E; Smith, Nicholas A; Spalding, Jody L et al. (2018) Looking Behavior and Audiovisual Speech Understanding in Children With Normal Hearing and Children With Mild Bilateral or Unilateral Hearing Loss. Ear Hear 39:783-794
Lewis, Dawna; Schmid, Kendra; O'Leary, Samantha et al. (2016) Effects of Noise on Speech Recognition and Listening Effort in Children With Normal Hearing and Children With Mild Bilateral or Unilateral Hearing Loss. J Speech Lang Hear Res 59:1218-1232
Lewis, Dawna E; Valente, Daniel L; Spalding, Jody L (2015) Effect of minimal/mild hearing loss on children's speech understanding in a simulated classroom. Ear Hear 36:136-44
Lewis, Dawna E; Wannagot, Shannon (2014) Effects of Looking Behavior on Listening and Understanding in a Simulated Classroom. J Educ Audiol 20:24-33
Lewis, Dawna E; Manninen, Crystal M; Valente, Daniel L et al. (2014) Children's understanding of instructions presented in noise and reverberation. Am J Audiol 23:326-36
Wróblewski, Marcin; Lewis, Dawna E; Valente, Daniel L et al. (2012) Effects of reverberation on speech recognition in stationary and modulated noise by school-aged children and young adults. Ear Hear 33:731-44
Valente, Daniel L; Plevinsky, Hallie M; Franco, John M et al. (2012) Experimental investigation of the effects of the acoustical conditions in a simulated classroom on speech recognition and learning in children. J Acoust Soc Am 131:232-46