The objectives of this study were to describe, analyse and compare the sound environments to which deaf and typically hearing children between 3 and 18 months are typically exposed, and identify issues to support the development of guidelines for the use of radio aids in this age group. Thirty parents of children aged 3-18 months (14 deaf children…

Introduction: Audio description (AD) should satisfy the needs of people who are visually impaired; however, quality assessment in university training programs has rarely been based on feedback provided by AD users. Aiming to help students truly understand the needs of people who are visually impaired and their criteria for AD, this study adopted…

Wireless remote microphones (WRM) are used as secondary assistive listening devices for students with hearing aids or cochlear implants to limit the negative effects of noise and distance for understanding speech. WRM technology is not yet widespread in the Czech Republic. The aim of this study was to use teachers' perspectives to compare the…

Objectives: The primary aim was to investigate the variability in language development in children aged 5-7.5 years after bilateral cochlear implantation (CI) up to the age of 2 years, and any impact of the age at implantation and additional noncognitive or anatomical disorders at implantation. Design: Data of 84 congenitally deaf children that…

This study evaluated the impact of sustainable assistive technology (SAT) on the employment opportunities (EOs) of university graduates with disabilities (GwDs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and examined whether government support (GS) acts as a mediating factor on said impact. A sample of 205 GwDs from five universities in the KSA…

The acoustic characteristics typical of mainstream schools in England make it challenging for deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) children to perceive speech but assistive listening technologies can enhance speech perception. In this study, we explored decision making for the purchase and allocation of assistive listening technologies by heads of…

Students with disabilities such as visual impairment (VI) face challenges in accessing education, mainly owing to their inability to participate in learning activities in the classroom. While experts in special education have discussed the deployment of assistive technology (AT) to support the learning of students with VI, research on its impact…

Background: Variability in the vocabulary outcomes of children with cochlear implants (CIs) is partially explained by child-directed speech (CDS) characteristics. Yet, relatively little is known about whether and how mothers adapt their lexical and prosodic characteristics to the child's hearing status (before and after implantation, and compared…

Purpose: This study builds upon an established effective training method to investigate the advantages of high variability phonetic identification training for enhancing lexical tone perception and production in Mandarin-speaking pediatric cochlear implant (CI) recipients, who typically face ongoing challenges in these areas. Method: Thirty-two…

Purpose: Postoperative rehabilitation programs for cochlear implant (CI) recipients primarily emphasize enhancing speech perception. However, effective communication in everyday social interactions necessitates consideration of diverse verbal social cues to facilitate language comprehension. Failure to discern emotional expressions may lead to…

Background: Implementation issues often hinder reaching the potential of care technology to improve daily lives of people with intellectual disabilities. We investigated barriers to and facilitators of implementing different technology modalities (app/social robot/sensor/domotics) in long-term care. Method: Care professionals (N = 83) from 12…

Universities are making great efforts to provide quality and inclusive education for all. However, the number of students with disabilities or educational needs studying higher education is still low. Student support resources are essential to the success of inclusive education. An inclusive education indicator has been developed that establishes…

Deaf-blindness is a type of dual disability wherein visual and auditory capabilities are significantly impaired. Special communication methods have been developed for the deaf-blind community. Yet, these methods require that both people involved have prior knowledge and training to successfully communicate, limiting deaf-blind people's social…

Background: There is a global need for synthetic speech development in multiple languages and dialects, as many children who cannot communicate using their natural voice struggle to find synthetic voices on high-technology devices that match their age, social and linguistic background. Aims: To document multiple stakeholders' perspectives…

This study aims to analyse the impact of a four-day inclusive basketball campus on the self-efficacy (SE) of players with or without a disability (pre- vs. post-intervention design). A sample of 44 participants, 23 without a disability and 21 with a physical disability, all wheelchair users, participated in this study. The entire sample formed…