Purpose: Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS), a rare, genetically linked complex developmental disorder caused by a deletion or mutation within chromosome 17p11.2, is associated with delays in speech-language development, otopathology, and hearing loss, yet previous studies lack comprehensive descriptions of hearing and communication profiles. Here,…

Children can only develop spoken language through consistent exposure to the acoustic cues that comprise speech and language. Until recently, hearing levels from the clinical audiogram were the primary measure used to define typical hearing and the presence or degree of a child's hearing loss. While the clinical audiogram remains an important…

The sense of hearing is very important in our need and ability to communicate with others, and for our safety. An audiologist describes features of the role of an audiologist and outlines training routes. Understanding how the ear works is the starting point, followed by basic details of some causes of hearing problems and management options for…

Background: Pragmatic language use in general and the use of evaluation devices (EDs) are very important components in everyday communication and expressing thoughts and feelings in narrative production. However, very little is known about the use of evaluative devices in the narratives of Arabic-speaking adolescents, especially those who are deaf…

This study examined the difference in the dynamic visual acuity test (DVAT) between collegiate athletes who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (D/HoH) (n = 38) and university club-level athletes who are hearing (n = 38). Dynamic visual acuity was assessed using the Bertec Vision Advantage (Bertec® Corporation, Columbus, Ohio, USA). No statistically…

Purpose: This study aimed to describe the impact of a preschool hearing screening program in a low- and middle-income country (LMIC) in terms of referral outcomes and caregiver perspectives. Method: This study included two components. First, a review of outcomes from a large-scale community-based hearing screening program, facilitated by community…

The effectiveness of education and upbringing of children with hearing loss who are placed in special and mixed groups remains an important issue. The study aims to establish mixed groups consisting of both healthy children and children with hearing loss, and subsequently evaluate and compare their cognitive and mental development across different…

The majority of deaf and hard of hearing children around the world are born to hearing parents, most of whom are not familiar with deafness or sign language. This can lead to language deprivation or delay and a lack of social interaction for these children. Below, article co-author Jacqueline Wunderlich shares her own story of growing up deaf, its…

Purpose: The effect of onset asynchrony on dichotic vowel segregation and identification in normal-hearing (NH) and hearing-impaired (HI) listeners was examined. We hypothesized that fusion would decrease and identification performance would improve with increasing onset asynchrony. Additionally, we hypothesized that HI listeners would gain more…

Purpose: This study examined the impact of traumatic brain injury (TBI) on self-perceived hearing and suprathreshold binaural processing in young and middle-age adults. Method: Ninety-three adults with normal hearing (thresholds [less than or equal to] 25 dB HL, 250-4000 Hz) participated in one of four groups: 38 young adults, 23 young adults with…

Purpose: Our goal is to understand how the different types of plural marking are understood and processed by children with cochlear implants (CIs): (a) how does salience affect the processing of plural marking, (b) how is this processing affected by the incomplete signal provided by the CIs, and (c) is it linked to individual factors such as…

The aim of this study was to explore the strategies that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) use during their linguistic interventions on children with cochlear implants (CIs). The sample comprised 7 SLPs in interactions with 62 children, 31 with CIs and 31 with typical hearing (TH), from 5 to 7 years of age. Two linguistic activities were used:…

The first step in engaging deaf and hard of hearing children in language-rich environments is getting their attention. Hearing teachers intuitively raise their voices as they enter their classes to get students' attention; Deaf teachers intuitively wait for the students to look at them. Deaf sign language teachers report that when hearing students…

Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to assess dual-task interference (i.e., changes between the dual-task and baseline condition) in a listening effort dual-task paradigm in normal-hearing (NH) adults, hearing aid (HA) users, and cochlear implant (CI) users. Method: Three groups of 31 participants were included: (a) NH adults, (b) HA…

Purpose: Although the existing literature has explored the link between cognitive functioning and speech recognition in noise, the specific role of fluid intelligence still needs to be studied. Given the established association between working memory capacity (WMC) and fluid intelligence and the predictive power of WMC for speech recognition in…