Predictors of Hearing Aid Use Time in Children With Mild-to-Severe Hearing Loss

Purpose—This study investigated predictors of hearing aid (HA) use time for children with mild-severe hearing loss. Barriers to consistent HA use and reliability of parent report measures were also examined. Method—Participants included parents of 272 children with hearing loss. Parents estimated the amount of time the child used HAs daily. Regression analysis examined the relationships among independent variables and HA use time. To determine parental accuracy of HA use time, datalogging from the HA was compared to parental estimates. Results—Longer HA use related to older age, poorer hearing, and higher maternal education. Parental consistency ratings revealed similar findings; younger children and children with milder hearing losses wore HAs less consistently than older children and children with more severe hearing loss. Parents’ estimates and datalogging were significantly correlated; however, results suggested parents overestimate the amount of time their children wear their hearing aids. Conclusions—The findings provide evidence that certain variables were significantly related to the amount of time children wore their HAs. Consistency rating scales provided insight into circumstances that were challenging for families. Use of both parental reports and datalogging may allow clinicians and researchers to obtain a general estimate of HA use time

Language Growth in Children with Mild to Severe Hearing Loss who Received Early Intervention by 3 Months or 6 Months of Age

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of hearing screening, diagnosis, and early intervention (EI) by 3 months or 6 months of age on language growth trajectories for children with hearing loss (HL) relative to children with normal hearing (NH). Method: We recruited 133 children with mild to severe HL through universal newborn hearing screening records and referrals from audiologists in the United States; 116 children with NH who served as a comparison group. Examiners administered a battery of developmentally appropriate language measures between 12 months and 8 years of age. We constructed latent growth curve models of global language, grammar, and vocabulary using Bayesian statistics. Results: Children with HL demonstrated no significant differences in initial language skills compared to children with NH. Children in the 1-3-6 group also showed no difference in language growth compared to children with NH. The slope for the 1-2-3 group was significantly steeper than children with NH for global language and grammar. Conclusions: This study documents the positive impact of EI on language outcomes in children with congenital HL. It is among the first to provide evidence to support the potential effects of very early intervention by 3 months of age

Factors Affecting Early Services for Children Who Are Hard of Hearing

To describe factors affecting early intervention (EI) for children who are hard of hearing, we analyzed (a) service setting(s) and the relationship of setting to families' frequency of participation, and (b) provider preparation, caseload composition, and experience in relation to comfort with skills that support spoken language for children who are deaf and hard of hearing (CDHH)

The Influence of Hearing Aid Use on Outcomes of Children With Mild Hearing Loss

This study examined the effects of consistent hearing aid (HA) use on outcomes in children with mild hearing loss (HL)

Speech Sound Production in 2-Year-Olds Who Are Hard of Hearing

The purpose of the study was to 1) compare the speech sound production abilities of 2-year-old children who are hard of hearing (HH) to children with normal hearing (NH), 2) identify sources of risk for individual children who are HH, and 3) determine whether speech sound production skills at age two were predictive of speech sound production skills at age three

Factors Influencing Follow-Up to Newborn Hearing Screening for Infants Who Are Hard of Hearing

To document the epidemiological characteristics of a group of hard-of-hearing children, to identify individual predictor variables for timely follow-up after a failed newborn hearing screen, and to identify barriers to follow-up encountered by families

Mothers\u27 mental state input and theory of mind understanding in deaf and hearing children

Development of a “theory of mind” (ToM) allows children to interpret the behaviors of others with reference to their mental states. False belief understanding matures during the late preschool years in typical children and affords them a powerful tool for making sense of the world. Studies have shown that deaf children with hearing parents are delayed in their development of mental state understanding. The sources of this delay, however, are not well understood. It has been hypothesized that deaf children\u27s restricted access to conversations about mental states contributes to delays. Presumably, this comes about as a result of the child\u27s deafness and the limited signing skills of hearing parents. Mothers\u27 mental state talk has been linked to theory of mind development in hearing children, but has not been directly studied in hearing/deaf dyads. The present study was designed to explore the relationship between maternal mental state input and deaf children\u27s development of a theory of mind. It was hypothesized that the frequency of a mother\u27s mental state utterances would relate to her child\u27s performance on theory of mind tasks and that parental sign fluency and child language abilities would be associated with the outcomes. Twenty-six hearing mother/deaf child dyads (children aged 4 years 3 months to 9 years 11 months) were compared to 26 hearing mother-hearing child dyads (children aged 4 years 3 months to 5 years 11 months). Dyads were videotaped in play interactions using tasks designed to elicit mental state talk. Measures of maternal sign vocabulary were collected, along with multiple measures of child language and standard theory of mind tasks. Results showed that the deaf children\u27s language skills were significant predictors of their ToM performance and that the frequency of mothers\u27 mental state talk was significantly related to ToM, after controlling for the effects of language. The frequency of maternal mental state input was influenced by level of maternal sign skill. Deaf children demonstrated delays in ToM performance, but their delays were less pronounced than those reported in previous studies

Linguistic Input, Electronic Media, and Communication Outcomes of Toddlers with Hearing Loss

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to examine the quantity of adult words, adult-child conversational turns, and electronic media in the auditory environments of toddlers who are hard of hearing (HH) and to examine whether these variables contributed to variability in children’s communication outcomes. DESIGN: Participants were 28 children with mild to severe hearing loss. Full-day recordings of children’s auditory environments were collected within 6 months of their 2(nd) birthdays by utilizing LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) technology. The system analyzes full-day acoustic recordings, yielding estimates of the quantity of adult words, conversational turns, and electronic media exposure in the recordings. Children’s communication outcomes were assessed via the receptive and expressive scales of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning at 2 years of age and the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language at 3 years of age. RESULTS: On average, the HH toddlers were exposed to approximately 1400 adult words per hour and participated in approximately 60 conversational turns per hour. An average of 8% of each recording was classified as electronic media. However, there was considerable within-group variability on all three measures. Frequency of conversational turns, but not adult words, was positively associated with children’s communication outcomes at 2 and 3 years of age. Amount of electronic media exposure was negatively associated with 2-year-old receptive language abilities; however, regression results indicate that the relationship was fully mediated by the quantity of conversational turns. CONCLUSIONS: HH toddlers who were engaged in more conversational turns demonstrated stronger linguistic outcomes than HH toddlers who were engaged in fewer conversational turns. The frequency of these interactions was found to be decreased in households with high rates of electronic media exposure. Optimal language-learning environments for HH toddlers include frequent linguistic interactions between parents and children. To support this goal, parents should be encouraged to reduce their children’s exposure to electronic media

Quantity of Parental Language in the Home Environments of Hard-of-Hearing 2-Year-Olds

Automated analyses of full-day recordings were used to determine whether young children who are hard-of-hearing (HH) received similar levels of exposure to adult words and conversational interactions as age-matched peers with normal-hearing (NH). Differences in adult input between children in this study and in a normative database were considered. Finally, factors were examined that may have contributed to individual differences in the input characteristics of families. Results indicated that the NH and HH groups were exposed to similar numbers of adult words and conversational turns. However, both the NH and HH groups were exposed to more adult words and engaged in more conversational turns than the NH children in the normative sample. Considering only the HH group, both quantity of adult words and conversational exchanges were correlated with children’s auditory characteristics. Children’s receptive language ability was correlated with conversational exchanges but not with adult word counts

Point vowel duration in children with hearing aids and cochlear implants at 4 and 5 years of age

This work investigates the developmental aspects of the duration of point vowels in children with normal hearing compared with those with hearing aids and cochlear implants at 4 and 5 years of age. Younger children produced longer vowels than older children, and children with hearing loss (HL) produced longer and more variable vowels than their normal hearing peers. In this study, children with hearing aids and cochlear implants did not perform differently from each other. Test age and HL did not interact, indicating parallel but delayed development in children with HL compared with their typically developing peers. Variability was found to be concentrated among the high vowels / , / but not in the low vowels / , /. The broad findings of this work are consistent with previous reports and contribute a detailed description of point vowel duration not in the literature