17th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 18-20, 2018 • Denver, CO
| A New Hierarchical Pictured Word Identification Test for Children with Hearing Loss
A New Hierarchical Pictured Word Identification Test for Children with Hearing Loss
Despite the prevalence of children identified with hearing loss in North American healthcare and education systems, clinical assessment of speech perception in preschoolers and young school-age children is performed using word lists of uniform difficulty. These lists provide little information to aid in the development of aural rehabilitation goals, or to track progress in speech perception abilities over time. This is problematic because, as children with impaired hearing learn to listen, they progress through a hierarchy of speech perception skills. The typical approach of using materials of uniform difficulty is unlikely to provide an accurate reflection of a child’s true perception abilities. This is particularly important for preschool and school-age children who are at a critical age for habilitating speech, language, and listening problems. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility and sensitivity of a four-alternative, forced-choice picture-pointing word-recognition task that employs a listening hierarchy. Target words are familiar English vocabulary and pictures are timeless and classic. The four-alternative format accommodates assessment of children with severe hearing loss who might perform at “floor level” on an open-set task. The hierarchy better predicts real-world performance than testing with words of uniform difficulty and allows for systematic tracking of progress in speech perception ability over time. Children between ages 3 – 9 years with impaired hearing who utilize amplification and children with normal hearing were tested. Preliminary data on children who are hearing aid and cochlear implant users show progressing scores that positively correlate with listening experience. The listening hierarchy is substantiated by results from normal hearing children in that young children perform perfectly on the lower hierarchy levels and older children perform perfectly on the entire test. The test takes less than five minutes to administer and produces a single score representing a child’s hierarchical speech perception abilities.
- Introduce conference participants to the Pediatric Auditory Recognition Test (PART): a new test designed to allow audiologists to quickly determine a child's auditory recognition abilities relative to a hearing hierarchy.
- Describe the preliminary data obtained when completing the PART with children between ages 3-9 with normal hearing, as well as children with hearing loss who utilize amplification.
- Discuss the implications of this test in a diagnostic pediatric audiology setting as it relates to early intervention.
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Presenters/Authors
Alexandra Smith
(), University of Tennessee, aroger36@uthsc.edu;
Alexandra L. Smith is a 4th year Au.D. resident at Greater Knoxville Ear, Nose, and Throat Associates. After earning a bachelor's degree in biology from Bryan College, she obtained a master's in audiology from the University of Tennessee, where she will also graduate from the doctoral program in May of 2018. While completing her graduate work, Alexandra has served on the honors council, and completed clinical rotations at the Pediatric Ear, Nose and Throat Associates of Atlanta, Bridgewater Balance and Hearing, and the University of Tennessee Speech and Hearing Center, where she has had the privilege of participating in the EHDI clinical practicum. In 2016 she was awarded the Audiology/Hearing Research Travel Award by the American Speech and Hearing Association. Alexandra enjoys providing a wide variety of clinical services during her 4th year placement, and especially enjoys where those clinical services and her graduate research intersect.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Kristen Waggoner
(), University of Tennessee, kwaggon4@uthsc.edu;
Kristen Waggoner is a fourth-year audiology student from Knoxville, Tennessee. Her areas of interest include pediatric audiology and early intervention. She is currently pursuing her professional aspirations in educational audiology while completing her residency at Tennessee School for the Deaf and will graduate with her Au.D. from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in May 2018.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.