Social inclusion for children with hearing loss in listening and spoken Language early intervention: an exploratory study

Background: Social inclusion is a common focus of listening and spoken language (LSL) early intervention for children with hearing loss. This exploratory study compared the social inclusion of young children with hearing loss educated using a listening and spoken language approach with population data. Methods: A framework for understanding the scope of social inclusion is presented in the Background. This framework guided the use of a shortened, modified version of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) to measure two of the five facets of social inclusion ('education' and 'interacting with society and fulfilling social goals'). The survey was completed by parents of children with hearing loss aged 4-5 years who were educated using a LSL approach (n = 78; 37% who responded). These responses were compared to those obtained for typical hearing children in the LSAC dataset (n = 3265). Results: Analyses revealed that most children with hearing loss had comparable outcomes to those with typical hearing on the 'education' and 'interacting with society and fulfilling social roles' facets of social inclusion. Conclusions: These exploratory findings are positive and warrant further investigation across all five facets of the framework to identify which factors influence social inclusion

Outcomes for Young Children with Hearing Loss in an Auditory-Verbal Therapy Program

Hearing loss is the most common disability in newborns, having a significant impact on the child and his/her family. During the last 20 years, it has become possible to reduce this impact through two major advances: the increasing use of newborn hearing screening, and the development of modern hearing technology. Furthermore, emerging neuroscience research is substantiating the rationale for the combination of early diagnosis and fitting of hearing technology with early auditory brain stimulation, resulting in maturation of the auditory neural system, a precondition for development of listening and spoken language. New evidence is needed for the effectiveness of education approaches in delivering auditory brain stimulation and developing listening and spoken language. These advances have driven the development of one education approach, Auditory-Verbal Therapy (AVT), which is described in relation to other education approaches in the Introduction of this thesis (Chapter 1). A review of evidence related to AVT is included in Chapter 2. This thesis then reports the outcomes of an AVT program for a group of children with hearing loss (AVT group) compared with those for a control group of children with typical hearing (TH group) in a longitudinal study over 50 months (Chapters 3 to 6). The AVT group were educated according to the principles of AVT in which children with hearing loss and their parents are educated simultaneously in order to guide and coach parents to provide their child with access to spoken language through audition. The AVT program in this study endorsed early identification and diagnosis, early audiological intervention, and parent-based education focused on developing the child’s auditory brain pathways, listening and spoken language, with the ultimate goal of education in the mainstream. However, there is very little available evidence for the efficacy of AVT, or for any other education approach. Moreover, there is a lack of large-scale, robust studies on the outcomes of AVT for children with hearing loss. The research study had a matched group repeated measures design and was developed to measure outcomes for a group of 29 children aged 2 to 6 years educated with AVT. At the commencement of the study, the AVT and TH groups of children were matched for gender, language age, receptive vocabulary and socioeconomic level. The children were tested at various time points, including the pretest (baseline), followed by posttests at 9 months (Chapter 3), at 21 months (Chapter 4), at 38 months (Chapter 5), and at 50 months (Chapter 6) from the start of the study. A battery of speech perception, language and speech tests was devised to measure the speech perception, language and speech outcomes for the two groups. The test battery included speech perception tests for the AVT group for live and recorded voice delivered in successive stages (pretest-21 months, 21-38 months, and 38-50 months from the start of the study). A battery of speech and language assessments was also administered at the start of the study (pretest) and at the 9, 21, 38 and 50 months posttests to both groups of children. Reading, mathematics and self-esteem assessments were added at the 38 and 50 months posttests for both the AVT and TH groups. Results showed that the speech perception skills for the AVT group improved significantly (p

The Petrie family: Building colonial Brisbane

This is the fascinating story of early Brisbane and traces the history of an important Queensland family, Andrew and Mary Petrie and their six children

The Petrie family : building colonial Brisbane

This is the fascinating story of early Brisbane and traces the history of an important Queensland family, Andrew and Mary Petrie and their six children

Exploring the Impact of Spoken Language on Social Inclusion for Children with Hearing Loss in Listening and Spoken Language Early Intervention

The impact of spoken language skills on the social inclusion of children with hearing loss is of interest for listening and spoken language early intervention providers

Newborn hearing screening in Queensland 2009–2011: comparison of hearing screening and diagnostic audiological assessment between term and preterm infants

This study compares rates and timing of newborn hearing screening outcomes, audiological assessment and hearing loss diagnosis between infants of different gestational age groups. Early identification and management of sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), ideally by 3-6 months of age, facilitates speech and language optimisation. Literature stratifying hearing screening and diagnostic audiology assessment by gestational age groups is lacking.Subjects were infants with recorded gestational ages receiving newborn hearing screening in Queensland between 2009 and 2011. Data were provided through the Queensland Healthy Hearing database. Infants were analysed in 40 dB occurred in 2.4 for 40 dB SNHL and 88.2% for other hearing loss. Relative to term, preterm infants had a higher incidence of direct and targeted surveillance referrals, audiology assessment and hearing loss diagnosis. Preterm infants were screened later after birth.Specific hearing screening and diagnosis characteristics differed between preterm infants 40 dB SNHL than term but correspondingly higher false positive results on screening, justifying vigilant monitoring. Focused research into specific risk factors in preterm infants is warranted