Benefits of incorporating the adaptive dynamic range optimization amplification scheme into an assistive listening device for people with mild or moderate hearing loss.

This study investigated whether a self-designed assistive listening device (ALD) that incorporates an adaptive dynamic range optimization (ADRO) amplification strategy can surpass a commercially available monaurally worn linear ALD, SM100. Both subjective and objective measurements were implemented. Mandarin Hearing-In-Noise Test (MHINT) scores were the objective measurement, whereas participant satisfaction was the subjective measurement.

A test protocol for assessing the hearing status of students with special needs.

Objectives: Individuals with disabilities are often reported to have a high prevalence of undetected hearing disorders/loss, but there is no standardized hearing test protocol for this population. The purposes of this study were (1) to examine the hearing status of students with special needs in Taiwan, and (2) to investigate the use of an on-site hearing test protocol that would adequately detect hearing problems in this population and reduce unnecessary referrals for off-site follow-up services.

Methods: A total of 238 students enrolled in two schools for special education and one habilitation center participated in the study.

Auditory performance and speech intelligibility of Mandarin-speaking children implanted before age 5.

Objectives: (1) To report the auditory performance and speech intelligibility of 84 Mandarin-speaking prelingually deaf children after using cochlear implants (CIs) for one, two, three, four, and five years to understand how many years of implant use were needed for them to reach a plateau-level performance; (2) to investigate the relation between subjective rating scales and objective measurements (i.e., speech perception tests); (3) to understand the effect of age at implantation on auditory and speech development.

Speech perception and communication ability over the telephone by Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants.

Objective: (1) To understand speech perception and communication ability through real telephone calls by Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants and compare them to live-voice perception, (2) to report the general condition of telephone use of this population, and (3) to investigate the factors that correlate with telephone speech perception performance.

Methods: Fifty-six children with over 4 years of implant use (aged 6.8-13.

Predictor of auditory performance in mandarin chinese children with cochlear implants.

Objective: The objectives of this investigation were to analyze auditory performance among Mandarin-speaking school-aged children with cochlear implants from their parents' perspective and to derive predictive factors of the performance.

Study Design: Parental perspective survey of cochlear implant outcome was developed, and factor analysis of auditory performance was performed by analysis of variance. Categorical regression and Pratt measure of relative importance were approached to derive predictive factors of the performance.

Lexical effects on spoken word recognition performance among Mandarin-speaking children with normal hearing and cochlear implants.

Objective: This investigation aimed to examine the effects of word frequency and lexical neighborhood density on spoken word recognition of monosyllables and disyllables in Mandarin by normal hearing children and children with cochlear implants. The lexical characteristics were incorporated from the Neighborhood Activation Model (NAM), which suggests that words in the mental lexicon are organized into similarity neighborhoods. The difficulty of a listener's task is affected by the frequency of the target word and the density of the lexical neighbors from which that word must be identified.

Pediatric cochlear implantation in Taiwan: long-term communication outcomes.

Objectives/hypothesis: Cochlear implantation is an established method of auditory rehabilitation for severely and profoundly hearing impaired individuals. Although numerous studies have examined communication outcomes in pediatric cochlear implant (CI) recipients, data concerning the benefits of cochlear implantation in children who speak Mandarin Chinese are lacking. This study examined communication outcomes in 29 Mandarin-speaking children implanted at Chung Gung Memorial Hospital.