Impact of an Auditory Processing Training Program on Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Purpose: Children and young adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often report and exhibit significant auditory processing difficulties, particularly in background noise. This study extends our previous work by examining the potential benefits of a 12-week auditory processing training (APT) program designed to address the auditory processing difficulties in individuals with ASD via auditory training and the use of remote-microphone technology. Effect sizes of training benefits also were calculated, and principal component analysis (PCA) was used to consolidate performance across various tests into fewer meaningful constructs related to auditory processing in this population.

Speech-in-Noise and Dichotic Auditory Training Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Purpose: Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit auditory processing issues, including poor speech recognition in background noise and dichotic processing (integration of different stimuli presented to the two ears). Auditory training could mitigate these auditory difficulties. However, few auditory training programs have been designed to target specific listening deficits for students with ASD.

Remote Microphone Systems for Cochlear Implant Recipients in Small Group Settings.

Purpose: Cochlear implant (CI) recipients often experience speech recognition difficulty in noise in small group settings with multiple talkers. In traditional remote microphones systems, one talker wears a remote microphone that wirelessly delivers speech to the CI processor. This system will not transmit signals from multiple talkers in a small group.

Factors Associated with Speech-Recognition Performance in School-Aged Children with Cochlear Implants and Early Auditory-Verbal Intervention.

Background: Considerable variability exists in the speech recognition abilities achieved by children with cochlear implants (CIs) due to varying demographic and performance variables including language abilities.

Purpose: This article examines the factors associated with speech recognition performance of school-aged children with CIs who were grouped by language ability.

Research Design: This is a single-center cross-sectional study with repeated measures for subjects across two language groups.

Characteristic Deviations of Auditory Evoked Potentials in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Background: Neurological, structural, and behavioral abnormalities are widely reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD); yet there are no objective markers to date. We postulated that by using dominant and nondominant ear data, underlying differences in auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) between ASD and control groups can be recognized.

Purpose: The primary purpose was to identify if significant differences exist in AEPs recorded from dominant and nondominant ear stimulation in (1) children with ASD and their matched controls, (2) adults with ASD and their matched controls, and (3) a combined child and adult ASD group and control group.

Educational Challenges During the Pandemic for Students Who Have Hearing Loss.

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic introduced new educational challenges for students, teachers, and caregivers due to the changed and varied learning environments, use of face masks, and social distancing requirements. These challenges are particularly pronounced for students with hearing loss who often require specific accommodations to allow for equal access to the curriculum. The purpose of this study was to document the potential difficulties that students with hearing loss faced during the pandemic and to generate recommendations to promote learning and engagement based on findings.

Meta-Analysis of Speech Recognition Outcomes in Younger and Older Adults With Cochlear Implants.

Purpose Meta-analyses were conducted to compare pre- to postoperative speech recognition improvements and postoperative scores after cochlear implantation in younger (< 60 years) and older (> 60 years) adults. Method Studies were identified with electronic databases and through manual search of the literature. In the primary analyses, effect sizes between pre- and postoperative scores for each age group were calculated using a formula appropriate for repeated-measures designs.

A Novel Performance-Based Paradigm of Care for Cochlear Implant Follow-Up.

Objectives: Utilize a multi-institutional outcomes database to determine expected performance for adult cochlear implant (CI) users. Estimate the percentage of patients who are high performers and achieve performance plateau.

Study Design: Retrospective database study.

Remote Microphone Technology for Children with Hearing Loss or Auditory Processing Issues.

School classrooms are noisy and reverberant environments, and the poor acoustics can be a barrier to successful learning in children, particularly those with multiple disabilities, auditory processing issues, and hearing loss. A new set of listening challenges have been imposed by the recent global pandemic and subsequent online learning requirements. The goal of this article is to review the impact of poor acoustics on the performance of children with auditory processing issues, mild hearing loss, and unilateral hearing loss.

Behavioral Auditory Processing in Children and Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Background: Auditory-processing deficits are common in children and adults who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These deficits are evident across multiple domains as exhibited by the results from subjective questionnaires from parents, teachers, and individuals with ASD and from behavioral auditory-processing testing.

Purpose: Few studies compare subjective and behavioral performance of adults and children diagnosed with ASD using commercially available tests of auditory processing.

Benefits of a Hearing Registry: Cochlear Implant Candidacy in Quiet Versus Noise in 1,611 Patients.

Purpose This retrospective study used a cochlear implant registry to determine how performing speech recognition candidacy testing in quiet versus noise influenced patient selection, speech recognition, and self-report outcomes. Method Database queries identified 1,611 cochlear implant recipients who were divided into three implant candidacy qualifying groups based on preoperative speech perception scores (≤ 40% correct) on the AzBio sentence test: quiet qualifying group, +10 dB SNR qualifying group, and +5 dB SNR qualifying group. These groups were evaluated for demographic and preoperative hearing characteristics.

Effects of Auditory Training on Electrophysiological Measures in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Background: Identifying objective changes following an auditory training program is central to the assessment of the program's efficacy.

Purpose: This study aimed (1) to objectively determine the efficacy of a 12-week auditory processing training (APT) program in individuals with autism spectrum disorder using auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) and (2) to identify the top central AEP predictors of the overall score on the Test of Auditory Processing Skills-3 (TAPS-3), the primary behavioral outcome measure of the APT program published in our earlier article.

Research Design: A one-group pretraining, posttraining design was used.

Effects of Auditory Training and Remote Microphone Technology on the Behavioral Performance of Children and Young Adults Who Have Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Background: Individuals who have a normal pure-tone audiogram but are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often exhibit poorer speech recognition and auditory processing when compared with neurotypical peers with normal pure-tone audiograms.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy and effectiveness of a 12-week auditory processing training (APT) program that was designed to address the deleterious effects of background noise and auditory processing deficits that are common among individuals diagnosed with ASD.

Research Design: A repeated measures design was used.

Speech Recognition in Noise in Adults and Children Who Speak English or Chinese as Their First Language.

Background: Speech recognition of individuals who are listening to a nonnative language is significantly degraded in the presence of background noise and may be influenced by proficiency, age of acquisition, language experience, and daily use of the nonnative language.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine and compare speech recognition in noise performance across test conditions with varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) as well as the presence of vocal and spatial cues in listeners who speak American English as a native language or Mandarin Chinese as a native language. Self-rated English proficiency and experience were collected for native Mandarin Chinese speakers to determine its relationship to performance on the test measures.

Preliminary evaluation of a novel non-linear frequency compression scheme for use in children.

Objective: The primary goal of this study was to evaluate a new form of non-linear frequency compression (NLFC) in children. The new NLFC processing scheme is adaptive and potentially allows for a better preservation of the spectral characteristics of the input sounds when compared to conventional NLFC processing.

Design: A repeated-measures design was utilised to compare the speech perception of the participants with two configurations of the new adaptive NLFC processing to their performance with the existing NLFC.

Voice gender and the segregation of competing talkers: Perceptual learning in cochlear implant simulations.

Two experiments explored the role of differences in voice gender in the recognition of speech masked by a competing talker in cochlear implant simulations. Experiment 1 confirmed that listeners with normal hearing receive little benefit from differences in voice gender between a target and masker sentence in four- and eight-channel simulations, consistent with previous findings that cochlear implants deliver an impoverished representation of the cues for voice gender. However, gender differences led to small but significant improvements in word recognition with 16 and 32 channels.

Creating a framework for data sharing in cochlear implant research.

Objectives: To summarize the development process of a national database that was designed to facilitate communication and collaboration, improve care, and create a framework for aggregate data sharing in cochlear implant (CI) research.

Methods: A group of nationally represented, multidisciplinary CI providers cooperated to define a standard set of data elements to incorporate into a database built by them in association with a group of computer scientists and software designers. CI centers across the USA, then, joined the non-profit Auditory Implant Initiative to use the database for their own clinical purposes and to help contribute to the national de-identified dataset for research and analytics.

Assistive technology evaluations: Remote-microphone technology for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The goal of this study was to conduct assistive technology evaluations on 12 children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to evaluate the potential benefits of remote-microphone (RM) technology. A single group, within-subjects design was utilized to explore individual and group data from functional questionnaires and behavioral test measures administered, designed to assess school- and home-based listening abilities, once with and once without RM technology. Because some of the children were unable to complete the behavioral test measures, particular focus was given to the functional questionnaires completed by primary teachers, participants, and parents.

The Effect of Noise on the Relationship Between Auditory Working Memory and Comprehension in School-Age Children.

Purpose: The objectives of the current study were to examine the effect of noise (-5 dB SNR) on auditory comprehension and to examine its relationship with working memory. It was hypothesized that noise has a negative impact on information processing, auditory working memory, and comprehension.

Method: Children with normal hearing between the ages of 8 and 10 years were administered working memory and comprehension tasks in quiet and noise.

Fitting and verification of frequency modulation systems on children with normal hearing.

Background: Several recent investigations support the use of frequency modulation (FM) systems in children with normal hearing and auditory processing or listening disorders such as those diagnosed with auditory processing disorders, autism spectrum disorders, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Friedreich ataxia, and dyslexia. The American Academy of Audiology (AAA) published suggested procedures, but these guidelines do not cite research evidence to support the validity of the recommended procedures for fitting and verifying nonoccluding open-ear FM systems on children with normal hearing. Documenting the validity of these fitting procedures is critical to maximize the potential FM-system benefit in the above-mentioned populations of children with normal hearing and those with auditory-listening problems.

A proposed electroacoustic test protocol for personal FM receivers coupled to cochlear implant sound processors.

Background: Current fitting guidelines from the American Academy of Audiology (Academy) support the use of objective electroacoustic measures and behavioral testing when fitting frequency modulation (FM) systems to hearing aids. However, only behavioral testing is recommended when fitting FM systems to individuals with cochlear implants (CIs) because a protocol for conducting electroacoustic measures has yet to be developed for this population.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to propose and examine the validity of a newly developed, objective, electroacoustic test protocol for fitting electrically and electromagnetically coupled FM systems to CI sound processors.

Electromagnetic versus electrical coupling of personal frequency modulation (FM) receivers to cochlear implant sound processors.

Background: Previous research has suggested that electrically coupled frequency modulation (FM) systems substantially improved speech-recognition performance in noise in individuals with cochlear implants (CIs). However, there is limited evidence to support the use of electromagnetically coupled (neck loop) FM receivers with contemporary CI sound processors containing telecoils.

Purpose: The primary goal of this study was to compare speech-recognition performance in noise and subjective ratings of adolescents and adults using one of three contemporary CI sound processors coupled to electromagnetically and electrically coupled FM receivers from Oticon.

Personal FM systems for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and/or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): an initial investigation.

Unlabelled: The goal of this initial investigation was to examine the potential benefit of a frequency modulation (FM) system for 11 children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or both disorders through measures of speech recognition performance in noise, observed classroom behavior, and teacher-rated educational risk and listening behaviors. Use of the FM system resulted in significant average improvements in speech recognition in noise for the children with ASD and ADHD as well as large effect sizes. When compared to typically functioning peers, children with ASD and ADHD had significantly poorer average speech recognition performance in noise without the FM system but comparable average performance when the FM system was used.

Speech recognition and subjective perceptions of neck-loop FM receivers with cochlear implants.

Purpose: The goal of this investigation was to determine the potential benefit of using electromagnetically coupled frequency modulation (FM) neck-loop receivers to address common communication difficulties of adults and adolescents with cochlear implants (CIs).

Method: Fourteen participants with CIs used the neck-loop FM receiver for a trial period and participated in pre- and post trial sessions consisting of speech-recognition-in-noise measures with and without the FM system and a subjective rating scale. Most participants also recorded their experiences during the FM-system trial period in a journal.

List equivalency of the AzBio sentence test in noise for listeners with normal-hearing sensitivity or cochlear implants.

Background: Speech recognition abilities of adults and children using cochlear implants (CIs) are significantly degraded in the presence of background noise, making this an important area of study and assessment by CI manufacturers, researchers, and audiologists. However, at this time there are a limited number of fixed-intensity sentence recognition tests available that also have multiple, equally intelligible lists in noise. One measure of speech recognition, the AzBio Sentence Test, provides 10-talker babble on the commercially available compact disc; however, there is no published evidence to support equivalency of the 15-sentence lists in noise for listeners with normal hearing (NH) or CIs.