The pragmatic skills of profoundly deaf children.

This study investigated the ability of normally hearing students and two groups of profoundly deaf students, one using oral and one using signed communication, to employ a series of pragmatic skills required for effective face-to-face interaction. Specifically considered were the ability of listeners to request clarification, the ability of speakers to respond to requests, and the strategies speakers use at times of communication breakdown. Differences were found between the two groups suggesting that the profoundly deaf students had difficulty consistently using appropriate, productive pragmatic behaviors in their face-to-face dyadic interactions.

Patterns of persistent otitis media in the first year of life in aboriginal and non-aboriginal infants.

Australian Aboriginal infants experience very early otitis media (OM). A previous study reported that OM with effusion (OME) or acute OM (AOM) was observed in the first 8 weeks of life in 95% of 22 Aboriginal infants, but that OME was seen in only 30% of 10 non-Aboriginal infants. Tympanic membrane perforation was reported for 1 Aboriginal subject at 8 weeks of age.

Onset of otitis media in the first eight weeks of life in aboriginal and non-aboriginal Australian infants.

Otitis media (OM) is highly prevalent among Aboriginal Australians, in whom eardrum perforations with discharge have been reported in the first 3 months of life. Only one published study, however, has described middle ear status at birth or prior to eardrum perforation in young Aboriginal infants. This prospective study used otoscopy, tympanometry, and hearing tests to compare middle ear status and hearing sensitivity in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal neonates.

Bacterial colonization of the nasopharynx predicts very early onset and persistence of otitis media in Australian aboriginal infants.

Otitis media (OM) develops in the first months of life and persists throughout childhood in many rural Aboriginal children. We have followed Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal infants from birth to determine the relationship of the early onset of OM to nasopharyngeal colonization with respiratory pathogens. Aboriginal infants were colonized with multiple species of respiratory bacteria (Moraxella catarrhalis, Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae) at a rate of 5% per day and the timing of colonization predicted the onset of persistent OM in individual Aboriginal infants.

Middle ear measures as predictors of hearing loss in Australian aboriginal schoolchildren.

This study sought to establish the value of tympanometry and otoscopy for predicting significant conductive hearing loss in remote-area Aboriginal children, and also to measure the range of hearing loss which can be expected with middle ear disease, with or without a tympanic membrane (TM) perforation. A field study is reported of 255 Aboriginal children aged up to 16 years who were examined with pneumotoscopy and tympanometry and whose hearing was tested under controlled acoustic conditions. Results showed that pneumatic otoscopy for detection of middle ear effusion and identification of perforations resulted in the best rate of prediction of significant conductive hearing loss.

Reflectometric screening for otitis media: inconsistencies in a sample of Australian aboriginal children.

This paper evaluates reflectometry, or acoustic otoscopy, as an objective test for the mobility of intact tympanic membranes in Australian Aboriginal children, who are a population at high risk for otitis media. Reflectometry, pneumotoscopy and tympanometry were compared in 395 ears in 198 Aboriginal children living in remote communities in Northern Australia. A strong interaction was found between pneumotoscopy and tympanometry (P < 0.

Social and environmental factors in 10 aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory: relationship to hospital admissions of children.

Objective: To identify social and environmental differences associated with differences in admission rates of children from 10 rural Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.

Design: Between March 1986 and December 1987, records of hospital admissions of the cohort of children for 1976-1985 were examined retrospectively; cross-sectional measurements of 74 historical, social and environmental characteristics of each community were collected.

Sample: All 1961 children born between 1 January 1976 and 31 December 1985 and still living in the 10 communities.

A multiple-electrode intracochlear implant for children.

A multiple-electrode intracochlear implant that provides 21 stimulus channels has been designed for use in young children. It is smaller than the adult version and has magnets to facilitate the attachment of the headset. It has been implanted in two children aged 5 and 10 years.

Preliminary results for the cochlear corporation multielectrode intracochlear implant in six prelingually deaf patients.

The preliminary results from this study indicate that some prelingually deaf patients may get worthwhile help from a multiple-electrode cochlear implant that uses a formant-based speech processing strategy. It is encouraging that these improvements can occur in young adults and teenagers. The results for two children are also encouraging.

Child variables influencing maternal speech style. Deaf and hearing children.

This study investigated maternal speech to age-matched and linguistically matched deaf and hearing 2-yr-old and 5-yr-old infants. Maternal speech features that were examined included complexity, selected utterance, and sentence types, repetitions, expansions, utterance acceptability, and fluency. Results revealed more significant differences in maternal speech to age-matched hearing and deaf children than to linguistically matched child groups.

The deaf child: habilitation with and without a cochlear implant.

The rationale underlying the habilitation of deaf children through the use of cochlear implants is discussed. Areas of child development which are especially relevant in the habilitation process are highlighted. The need for rigorous ongoing evaluation is emphasized.

Critical bands following the selective destruction of cochlear inner and outer hair cells.

Critical bandwidths and absolute intensity thresholds were measured in cats before and after kanamycin treatment which induced selective inner and outer hair cell losses. Hair cell losses were measured from cochleograms constructed from surface preparations of the organ of Corti. Results suggested that, for the test frequencies and stimulus intensities employed, critical bandwidths were not affected for frequencies tonotopically located in cochlear regions where only outer hair cells were lost.

Frequency discrimination following the selective destruction of cochlear inner and outer hair cells.

Frequency discrimination was measured behaviorally before and after drug-induced lesions of cochlear hair cells in the cat. Discrimination was unaffected by complete loss of outer hair cells provided that at least 50% of inner hair cells were intact. Thus, inner hair cells are important for frequency discrimination, and they can function normally in this regard without the influence of outer hair cells.