Spontaneous speech intelligibility: early cochlear implanted children versus their normally hearing peers at seven years of age

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Nathalie BOONEN ◽  
Hanne KLOOTS ◽  
Pietro NURZIA ◽  
Steven GILLIS
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Continuous Scale ◽  
Lower Entropy ◽  
Children's Speech ◽  
Impaired Children

Abstract Speaking intelligibly is an important achievement in children’s language development. How far do congenitally severe-to-profound hearing-impaired children who received a cochlear implant (CI) in the first two years of their life advance on the path to intelligibility in comparison to children with typical hearing (NH)? Spontaneous speech samples of children with CI and children with NH were orthographically transcribed by naïve transcribers. The entropy of the transcriptions was computed to analyze their degree of uniformity. The same samples were also rated on a continuous rating scale by another group of adult listeners. The transcriptions of the NH children’s speech were more uniform, i.e., had significantly lower entropy, than those of the CI children, suggesting that the latter group displayed lower intelligibility. This was confirmed by the ratings on the continuous scale. Despite the relatively restricted age ranges, older children reached better intelligibility scores in both groups.

scholarly journals A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON ANALYSIS OF PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN TAMIL SPEAKING HEARING IMPAIRED CHILDREN WITH COCHLEAR IMPLANTS

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (01) ◽  
pp. 769-773
Author(s):  
Dhinakaran N. ◽  
◽  
Karthikeyan B.M ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
Implant Surgery ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Cochlear Implant Surgery ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Hearing Impaired Children

Phonological Processes are simplification of sounds which occur among the children during the younger age and will gradually diminish giving an adult like speech form. The aim of the present study is to analyze the occurrence of phonological processes among hearing impaired children who underwent cochlear implant surgery during their younger age as an early intervention. The subjects included in the study were 10 children (5 male and 5 female) who were diagnosed with congenital total hearing impairment and underwent cochlear implant surgery and attending Auditory verbal therapy. The task given to the subjects in the present study is to repeat the words in Tamil Articulation Test followed by the Clinician. The words were recorded and further analyzed for the occurrence of phonological processes. The results show that a total of 26 phonological processes (both typical and atypical) occurred with a maximum occurrence of Depalatalization and minimally of Final Consonant Deletion. The results of the present study help in providing a better knowledge about the occurrence of phonological processes which helps the speech language pathologist in intervening hearing impaired children with cochlear implants and to improve their speech intelligibility.

scholarly journals Identificeerbaarheid van kinderen met een gehoorbeperking

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie Boonen ◽  
Hanne Kloots ◽  
Steven Gillis
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Speech Quality ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Device Use ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
Children's Speech ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Hearing Impaired Children

Abstract Studies on the speech and language development of hearing-impaired children often focus on (deviations in) the children’s speech production. However, it is unclear if listeners also perceive differences between the speech of normally hearing and hearing-impaired children. This contribution wants to fill this void by investigating the overall perceived speech quality of both groups. Three groups of listeners (speech and language pathologists, primary school teachers and inexperienced listeners) judged 126 utterances of seven normally hearing children, seven children with an acoustic hearing aid and seven children with a cochlear implant, in a comparative judgment task. All children were approximately seven years old and received, in the case of the hearing-impaired children, their assistive hearing device before the age of two. The online tool D-PAC was used to administer the comparative judgement task. The listeners compared stimuli in pairs and decided which stimulus sounded best. This method ultimately leads to a ranking in which all stimuli are represented according to their overall perceived speech quality. The main result is that the speech of normally hearing children was preferred by the listeners. This indicates that, even after several years of device use, the speech quality of hearing-impaired children is perceived as different from that of normally hearing children. Within the group of hearing-impaired children, cochlear implanted children were judged to exhibit higher speech quality than acoustically hearing aided children, especially after a longer device use. The speech quality of the latter group, on the other hand, remained practically stable. Listeners, irrespectively of their degree of experience with (hearing-impaired) children’s speech, completed the task similarly. In other words: the difference between the overall perceived speech quality of normally hearing and hearing-impaired children is salient for all listener groups and they all slightly preferred children with a cochlear implant over children with an acoustic hearing aid.

Reading and speech intelligibility of a child with auditory impairment and cochlear implant.

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 306-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Del Mando Lucchesi ◽  
Ana Claudia Moreira Almeida-Verdu ◽  
Deisy das Graças de Souza
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Auditory Impairment

Improved Environment-Aware–Based Noise Reduction System for Cochlear Implant Users Based on Knowledge Transfer Approach (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieber Po-Hung Li ◽  
Ji-Yan Han ◽  
Wei-Zhong Zheng ◽  
Ren-Jie Huang ◽  
Ying-Hui Lai
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Transfer ◽  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Noise Reduction ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Middle Layer ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Perceptual Evaluation ◽  
Reduction System ◽  
Listening Tests ◽  
Implementation Costs

BACKGROUND The cochlear implant technology is a well-known approach to help deaf patients hear speech again. It can improve speech intelligibility in quiet conditions; however, it still has room for improvement in noisy conditions. More recently, it has been proven that deep learning–based noise reduction (NR), such as noise classification and deep denoising autoencoder (NC+DDAE), can benefit the intelligibility performance of patients with cochlear implants compared to classical noise reduction algorithms. OBJECTIVE Following the successful implementation of the NC+DDAE model in our previous study, this study aimed to (1) propose an advanced noise reduction system using knowledge transfer technology, called NC+DDAE_T, (2) examine the proposed NC+DDAE_T noise reduction system using objective evaluations and subjective listening tests, and (3) investigate which layer substitution of the knowledge transfer technology in the NC+DDAE_T noise reduction system provides the best outcome. METHODS The knowledge transfer technology was adopted to reduce the number of parameters of the NC+DDAE_T compared with the NC+DDAE. We investigated which layer should be substituted using short-time objective intelligibility (STOI) and perceptual evaluation of speech quality (PESQ) scores, as well as t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding to visualize the features in each model layer. Moreover, we enrolled ten cochlear implant users for listening tests to evaluate the benefits of the newly developed NC+DDAE_T. RESULTS The experimental results showed that substituting the middle layer (ie, the second layer in this study) of the noise-independent DDAE (NI-DDAE) model achieved the best performance gain regarding STOI and PESQ scores. Therefore, the parameters of layer three in the NI-DDAE were chosen to be replaced, thereby establishing the NC+DDAE_T. Both objective and listening test results showed that the proposed NC+DDAE_T noise reduction system achieved similar performances compared with the previous NC+DDAE in several noisy test conditions. However, the proposed NC+DDAE_T only needs a quarter of the number of parameters compared to the NC+DDAE. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that knowledge transfer technology can help to reduce the number of parameters in an NC+DDAE while keeping similar performance rates. This suggests that the proposed NC+DDAE_T model may reduce the implementation costs of this noise reduction system and provide more benefits for cochlear implant users.

scholarly journals Logatome Discrimination in Cochlear Implant Users: Subjective Tests Compared to the Mismatch Negativity

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 329-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torsten Rahne ◽  
Michael Ziese ◽  
Dorothea Rostalski ◽  
Roland Mühler
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Discrimination Test ◽  
Speech Database ◽  
Automated Speech Recognition ◽  
Related Potentials

This paper describes a logatome discrimination test for the assessment of speech perception in cochlear implant users (CI users), based on a multilingual speech database, the Oldenburg Logatome Corpus, which was originally recorded for the comparison of human and automated speech recognition. The logatome discrimination task is based on the presentation of 100 logatome pairs (i.e., nonsense syllables) with balanced representations of alternating “vowel-replacement” and “consonant-replacement” paradigms in order to assess phoneme confusions. Thirteen adult normal hearing listeners and eight adult CI users, including both good and poor performers, were included in the study and completed the test after their speech intelligibility abilities were evaluated with an established sentence test in noise. Furthermore, the discrimination abilities were measured electrophysiologically by recording the mismatch negativity (MMN) as a component of auditory event-related potentials. The results show a clear MMN response only for normal hearing listeners and CI users with good performance, correlating with their logatome discrimination abilities. Higher discrimination scores for vowel-replacement paradigms than for the consonant-replacement paradigms were found. We conclude that the logatome discrimination test is well suited to monitor the speech perception skills of CI users. Due to the large number of available spoken logatome items, the Oldenburg Logatome Corpus appears to provide a useful and powerful basis for further development of speech perception tests for CI users.

Assessment of Intelligibility in Children with Velopharyngeal Insufficiency: The Relationship between Intelligibility in Context Scale and Experimental Measures

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Hedieh Hashemi Hosseinabad ◽  
Karla N. Washington ◽  
Suzanne E. Boyce ◽  
Noah Silbert ◽  
Ann W. Kummer
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Clinical Application ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Velopharyngeal Insufficiency ◽  
Point Scale ◽  
Indirect Measure ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Parental Reports ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Children's Speech

<b><i>Purpose:</i></b> The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical application of the Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS) instrument in children with velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI). This study investigated the relationship between clinical speech outcomes and parental reports of speech intelligibility across various communicative partners. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> The ICS was completed by the parents of 20 English-speaking children aged 4–12 years diagnosed with VPI. The parents were asked to rate their children’s speech intelligibility across communication partners using a 5-point scale. Clinical metrics obtained using standard clinical transcription on the Picture-Cued SNAP-R Test were: (1) percentage of consonants correct (PCC), (2) percentage of vowels correct (PVC), and (3) percentage of phonemes correct (PPC). Nasalance from nasometer data was included as an indirect measure of nasality. Intelligibility scores obtained from naive listener’s transcriptions and speech-language pathologists’ (SLP) ratings were compared with the ICS results. <b><i>Result:</i></b> Greater PCC, PPC, PVC, and transcription-based intelligibility values were significantly associated with higher ICS values, respectively (<i>r</i>[20] = 0.84, 0.82, 0.51, and 0.70, respectively; <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.05 in all cases). There was a negative and significant correlation between ICS mean scores and SLP ratings of intelligibility (<i>r</i> = –0.74; <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001). There was no significant correlation between ICS values and nasalance scores (<i>r</i>[20] = –0.28; <i>p</i> = 0.22). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The high correlations obtained between the ICS with PCC and PPC measures indicate that articulation accuracy has had a great impact on parents’ decision-making regarding intelligibility in this population. Significant agreement among ICS scores with naive listener transcriptions and clinical ratings supports use of the ICS in practice.

scholarly journals The effect of age at time of cochlear implantation on the pragmatic development of the prelingual hearing impaired children

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Sameeh Khodeir ◽  
Dina Fouad El Sayed Moussa ◽  
Rasha Mohammed Shoeib
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Cochlear Implantation ◽  
Study Groups ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Language Delay ◽  
Pragmatic Language ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Impaired Children ◽  
Hearing Impaired Children

Abstract Background Pragmatics is the social use of language that draws on understanding human interactions in specific contexts and requires engagement with a communicative partner or partners. The hearing-impaired children are known to have a pragmatic language delay as hearing impairment deprived of exposure to natural communication interactions, in addition to the language delay they have. Since the age of implantation has emerged as an important predictor of language, hearing, and speech in children who use cochlear implants (CI), question aroused about the benefits of early cochlear implantation on pragmatic language development in those children. Thus, this study aims to compare the pragmatic language development of the prelingual hearing impaired children who cochlear implanted before the age of 3 years and those who cochlear implanted after the age of 3 years. Results The two study groups showed no significant differences regard their scores in the Egyptian Arabic Pragmatic Language Test (EAPLT). The two studied groups had pragmatic language scores below their 5th percentile. Among the studied groups, the scores of the EAPLT were positively correlated to the age of the children, the children’s language abilities, and the duration of the received language rehabilitation, with no significant correlation to the age of implantation. Conclusions The age of implantation has no impact on pragmatic language development in children with CI. The prelingual children with CI are susceptible to delays in the pragmatic language development that is primarily related to the age of those children and their language abilities, besides their experience in social interactions. These results should be considered in their rehabilitative plan and advocate the importance of early incorporation of pragmatic behaviors into their intervention programs.

Outcomes of cochlear implantation in deaf children of deaf parents: comparative study

2012 ◽  
Vol 126 (10) ◽  
pp. 989-994 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Hassanzadeh
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implantation ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Hearing Parents ◽  
Deaf Parents ◽  
First And Second Generation

AbstractObjective:This retrospective study compared the cochlear implantation outcomes of first- and second-generation deaf children.Methods:The study group consisted of seven deaf, cochlear-implanted children with deaf parents. An equal number of deaf children with normal-hearing parents were selected by matched sampling as a reference group. Participants were matched based on onset and severity of deafness, duration of deafness, age at cochlear implantation, duration of cochlear implantation, gender, and cochlear implant model. We used the Persian Auditory Perception Test for the Hearing Impaired, the Speech Intelligibility Rating scale, and the Sentence Imitation Test, in order to measure participants' speech perception, speech production and language development, respectively.Results:Both groups of children showed auditory and speech development. However, the second-generation deaf children (i.e. deaf children of deaf parents) exceeded the cochlear implantation performance of the deaf children with hearing parents.Conclusion:This study confirms that second-generation deaf children exceed deaf children of hearing parents in terms of cochlear implantation performance. Encouraging deaf children to communicate in sign language from a very early age, before cochlear implantation, appears to improve their ability to learn spoken language after cochlear implantation.

Listening Effort With Cochlear Implant Simulations

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 1075-1084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina Pals ◽  
Anastasios Sarampalis ◽  
Deniz Başkent
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implant ◽  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Visual Response ◽  
Processing Conditions ◽  
Listening Effort ◽  
Dual Task Paradigm ◽  
Spectral Channels

Purpose Fitting a cochlear implant (CI) for optimal speech perception does not necessarily optimize listening effort. This study aimed to show that listening effort may change between CI processing conditions for which speech intelligibility remains constant. Method Nineteen normal-hearing participants listened to CI simulations with varying numbers of spectral channels. A dual-task paradigm combining an intelligibility task with either a linguistic or nonlinguistic visual response-time (RT) task measured intelligibility and listening effort. The simultaneously performed tasks compete for limited cognitive resources; changes in effort associated with the intelligibility task are reflected in changes in RT on the visual task. A separate self-report scale provided a subjective measure of listening effort. Results All measures showed significant improvements with increasing spectral resolution up to 6 channels. However, only the RT measure of listening effort continued improving up to 8 channels. The effects were stronger for RTs recorded during listening than for RTs recorded between listening. Conclusion The results suggest that listening effort decreases with increased spectral resolution. Moreover, these improvements are best reflected in objective measures of listening effort, such as RTs on a secondary task, rather than intelligibility scores or subjective effort measures.

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