Prevalence of mild hearing loss in school-age children enrolled in special education

Over the last several decades, audiologists, speech-language pathologists (SLPs), and educators have learned a great deal about the impact of permanent minimal/ mild hearing loss (MMHL) on children. Once considered a problem that could be easily managed by preferential positioning of the listener relative to the talker of interest or, in the case of school-age children, preferential classroom seating, research has accumulated over the last several decades concluding that children with MMHL are at risk of significant educational and psychosocial challenges. Despite the term minimal, no longer is a MMHL viewed as being inconsequential. The following sections will describe our current knowledge about MMHL in children and what we have left to discover.

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Dimensions of Multiskilling

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.3001.04 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 4-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Carole E. Johnson

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Service Delivery ◽

Monitoring Program ◽

School Age Children ◽

School Age ◽

Support Personnel ◽

Educational Personnel ◽

Educational Audiology ◽

Children With Hearing Loss ◽

Improve Service Delivery

Educational audiologists often must delegate certain tasks to other educational personnel who function as support personnel and need training in order to perform assigned tasks. Support personnel are people who, after appropriate training, perform tasks that are prescribed, directed, and supervised by a professional such as a certified and licensed audiologist. The training of support personnel to perform tasks that are typically performed by those in other disciplines is calledmultiskilling. This article discusses multiskilling and the use of support personnel in educational audiology in reference to the following principles: guidelines, models of multiskilling, components of successful multiskilling, and "dos and don’ts" for multiskilling. These principles are illustrated through the use of multiskilling in the establishment of a hearing aid monitoring program. Successful multiskilling and the use of support personnel by educational audiologists can improve service delivery to school-age children with hearing loss.

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Hearing Technology Use and Management in School-Age Children: Reports from Data Logs, Parents, and Teachers

Journal of the American Academy of Audiology ◽

10.3766/jaaa.16042 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 28 (10) ◽

pp. 883-892 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Samantha J. Gustafson ◽

Todd A. Ricketts ◽

Anne Marie Tharpe

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Hearing Aids ◽

Hearing Aid ◽

Parent Report ◽

School Age Children ◽

School Age ◽

Data Logging ◽

Hearing Aid Use ◽

System Use ◽

Children With Hearing Loss

Background: Consistency of hearing aid and remote microphone system use declines as school-age children with hearing loss age. One indicator of hearing aid use time is data logging, another is parent report. Recent data suggest that parents overestimate their children’s hearing aid use time relative to data logging. The potential reasons for this disparity remain unclear. Because school-age children spend the majority of their day away from their parents and with their teachers, reports from teachers might serve as a valuable and additional tool for estimating hearing aid use time and management. Purpose: This study expands previous research on factors influencing hearing aid use time in school-age children using data logging records. Discrepancies between data logging records and parent reports were explored using custom surveys designed for parents and teachers. Responses from parents and teachers were used to examine hearing aid use, remote microphone system use, and hearing aid management in school-age children. Study Sample: Thirteen children with mild-to-moderate hearing loss between the ages of 7 and 10 yr and their parents participated in this study. Teachers of ten of these children also participated. Data Collection and Analysis: Parents and teachers of children completed written surveys about each child’s hearing aid use, remote microphone system use, and hearing aid management skills. Data logs were read from hearing aids using manufacturer’s software. Multiple linear regression analysis and an intraclass correlation coefficient were used to examine factors influencing hearing aid use time and parent agreement with data logs. Parent report of hearing aid use time was compared across various activities and school and nonschool days. Survey responses from parents and teachers were compared to explore areas requiring potential improvement in audiological counseling. Results: Average daily hearing aid use time was ˜6 hr per day as recorded with data logging technology. Children exhibiting greater degrees of hearing loss and those with poorer vocabulary were more likely to use hearing aids consistently than children with less hearing loss and better vocabulary. Parents overestimated hearing aid use by ˜1 hr per day relative to data logging records. Parent-reported use of hearing aids varied across activities but not across school and nonschool days. Overall, parents and teachers showed excellent agreement on hearing aid and remote microphone system use during school instruction but poor agreement when asked about the child’s ability to manage their hearing devices independently. Conclusions: Parental reports of hearing aid use in young school-age children are largely consistent with data logging records and with teacher reports of hearing aid use in the classroom. Audiologists might find teacher reports helpful in learning more about children’s hearing aid management and remote microphone system use during their time at school. This supplementary information can serve as an additional counseling tool to facilitate discussion about remote microphone system use and hearing aid management in school-age children with hearing loss.

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A Response to the GAO Report, “Disparities Still Exist in Who Gets Special Education”

Council review ◽

10.1177/001440298305000104 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

pp. 30-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

K. Charlie Lakin ◽

Bradley K. Hill ◽

Florence A. Hauber ◽

Robert H. Bruininks

Keyword(s):

Special Education ◽

Representative Sample ◽

Mentally Retarded ◽

Public Law ◽

Residential Facilities ◽

School Age Children ◽

School Age ◽

School Programs ◽

Severely Handicapped ◽

Nationally Representative

A September, 1981, General Accounting Office (GAO) report concluded that among the central objectives of Public Law 94–142, the priorities of serving the previously unserved and the most severely handicapped “may have been realized.” However, data gathered on 401 school-age children who were part of a nationally representative sample of 2,271 individuals living in residential facilities for mentally retarded persons found that at the same time the GAO study was conducted, substantial numbers of sample members were not in school programs and 8% were in no day programs whatsoever.

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Predicting speech‐sound disorder outcomes in school‐age children with hearing loss: The VicCHILD experience

International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders ◽

10.1111/1460-6984.12536 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 55 (4) ◽

pp. 537-546

Author(s):

Miya St John ◽

Georgie Columbus ◽

Amanda Brignell ◽

Peter Carew ◽

Jemma Skeat ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Speech Sound ◽

School Age Children ◽

School Age ◽

Speech Sound Disorder ◽

Children With Hearing Loss

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Prevalence of Hearing Loss, and Middle Ear Disease in 1351 School Age Children in Mekelle, Ethiopia

Annals of Otology Rhinology & Laryngology ◽

10.1177/0003489420967708 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 000348942096770

Author(s):

Betelhem Birhanu ◽

Abel Shimeles ◽

Filmawit Gebremeskel ◽

Gabrielle Cager ◽

Miriam Redleaf

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Conductive Hearing Loss ◽

School Age Children ◽

Northern Ethiopia ◽

School Age ◽

Level Of Evidence ◽

Hearing Thresholds ◽

Middle Ear Disease ◽

Conductive Hearing ◽

Tympanic Membranes

Objectives: The objective of this study was to begin to measure the prevalence of elevated hearing thresholds in Ethiopia, with audiometric equipment, including bone oscillators and tympanometers. To that end Ethiopian nationals were trained in audiometric techniques to obtain sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and conductive hearing loss (CHL) rates in school age children. Methods: Five mainstreamed public grade schools in northern Ethiopia were the sites for audiometry campaigns examining 1351 children and testing them with behavioral audiometry. Results: Seven percent of students had SNHL > 20 dB in at least 1 frequency in at least 1 ear, and 0.6% of ears had SNHL > 50 dB. Eighteen percent8% of students had CHL > 20 dB in 1 or both ears. The frequency with the highest incidence of elevated pure tone thresholds was at 8000 Hz. Seven percent of students had an air bone gap at 2000 and/or 4000 Hz of at least 15 dB. Air bone gap is not obtained at 8000 Hz. There were 22 perforated tympanic membranes in 17 children (0.8% of tympanic membranes, 1% of students). Conclusion: This study gives a baseline for the prevalence of hearing loss in school age children in mainstreamed northern Ethiopian schools. It is the first of its kind and perhaps can help in estimated hearing health needs there. Level of Evidence: 2

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Accuracy of School Screenings in the Identification of Minimal Sensorineural Hearing Loss

American Journal of Audiology ◽

10.1044/2014_aja-14-0014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 365-373 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Jeanne Dodd-Murphy ◽

Walter Murphy ◽

Fred H. Bess

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Prospective Study ◽

Sensorineural Hearing Loss ◽

Sensorineural Hearing ◽

School Age Children ◽

Data Sets ◽

School Age ◽

Diverse Populations ◽

Referral Rates ◽

Referral Criterion

Purpose The goal of this study was to investigate how the use of a 25 dB HL referral criterion in school screenings affects the identification of hearing loss categorized as minimal sensorineural hearing loss (MSHL). Method A retrospective study applied screening levels of 20 and 25 dB HL at 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz in each ear to previously obtained pure-tone thresholds for 1,475 school-age children. In a separate prospective study, 1,704 children were screened at school under typical conditions, and a subsample had complete audiological evaluations. Referral rates, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated for each screening level. Results Referral rates varied by grade and criterion level, with comparable results between the two data sets. In both studies, when the screening level increased, the sensitivity to MSHL declined markedly, whereas specificity increased in the prospective study. Conclusions Screening at 25 dB yields poor sensitivity to MSHL. Converging evidence from these diverse populations supports using the 20 dB level to help identify MSHL. Multistage screening is recommended to limit referral rates. Even at 20 dB HL, cases of MSHL may be missed. Audiologists should encourage parents, educators, and speech–language pathologists to refer children suspected of hearing difficulty for complete audiological evaluations even if they pass school screenings.

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An Introduction to Cochlear Implant Technology, Activation, and Programming

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461(2002/013) ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 153-161 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jan A. Moore ◽

Holly F. B. Teagle

Keyword(s):

Hearing Loss ◽

Cochlear Implant ◽

Cochlear Implants ◽

Speech Processing ◽

Academic Development ◽

School Age Children ◽

School Age ◽

Technology In The Classroom ◽

Processing Strategies ◽

Cochlear Implant Surgery

Over the last decade, cochlear implantation has become an increasingly viable alternative for the treatment of profound sensorineural hearing loss in children. Although speech and hearing professionals play an important role in the communicative, social, and academic development of children with cochlear implants, many may be unfamiliar with recent advances in implant technology. This article provides an overview of the components of cochlear implant systems and the speech processing strategies that are currently being used by toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children. A brief description of cochlear implant surgery and the procedures for programming these devices are also included. Finally, information regarding the use of assistive listening technology in the classroom is presented.

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