Monthly Archives: May 2009
Learning to Hold Conversations – A Growing Up Deaf Memory
My class at work today was discussing communication skills, and it brought back a growing up deaf memory for me.
from Topix.net
NHSP Protocols Under Review
The NSHP Clinical Group is currently reviewing the following protocols:
Surveillance and monitoring
Early audiological assessment and management
Combining click tonepip and BC protocols into one document
The NHSP group welcomes your input on all or any of these. If you have specific comments, or if you would like to join one of the working groups please contact Graham Sutton (graham@mrchear.man.ac.uk)
from the British Academy of Audiology
New NHS Focus On Audiology Brings Faster Hearing Aid Treatment
A determined effort by Audiology teams across the country has led to 99% of people receiving hearing aids or other appropriate treatment within the government’s 18-week target.
Lingraphica introduces the SmallTalk mobile accessory for aphasia
Lingraphica, maker of the Lingraphica speech-generating device for aphasia, announces the release of the SmallTalk mobile accessory. Incredibly portable and light, it fits easily into a pocket or purse for communication and practice on the go. Users can take along a selection of phrases, icons, and videos to have with them at all times. Together, the Lingraphica speech-generating device and the SmallTalk provide a comprehensive system for aphasia communication and recovery.
from EurekAlert.org
Can I Wear Hearing Aids While I Sleep
Abstract: Counseling includes the concept of “therapeutic listening,” defined as providing a troubled sender the opportunity to talk through a problem. Relevant skills include empathy, providing a supportive environment, and responding appropriately. Responding appropriately is especially challenging, since the nature of our professions leads us to answer questions with data. For instance, regarding the question in the title of this presentation, we would readily reply, “No, because….” But why was the question asked?
This presentation will discuss the risks associated with missing the point of a patient’s question; concepts on therapeutic listening; and some strategies to help us refrain from answering questions too quickly and instead align our responses to the true purpose of our patients’ questions.
from the National Library for Health
Identification and Overidentification of Specific Learning Disabilities (Dyslexia) in Greece
The present study analyzed identification procedures and explored the possibility of dyslexia overidentification in Greece. Data from various institutional sources provided evidence that the prevalence rate of dyslexia in the school population, aged 6-18, was slightly higher than 1%. Compared to the corresponding percentages from the United States (approximately 5.5%) and an arbitrary estimation of 5% of a Greek legal document, the dyslexia rate was much lower, thus excluding the possibility of an overidentification problem on a national scale. Nonetheless, the relevant worries expressed by Greek governments seem to be partly justified by the phenomenon of a disproportionate percentage of students with dyslexia in secondary schools, when compared with that in elementary schools. This seems paradoxical, considering that the inadequacies in supportive special education services are much greater in the secondary-level education system. This finding was analyzed in terms of the legal and social actualities of Greece. Finally, a comparison between the Greek situation and the specific learning disabilities reality in the United States revealed differences regarding the issue of identification as well as similarities in the social factors that lead to distortions of the diagnostic procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
UCLA Discovery May Explain Why Autism Strikes Boys Four Times More Than Girls
UCLA scientists have discovered a variant of a gene called CACNA1G that may increase a child’s risk of developing autism, particularly in boys. The journal Molecular Psychiatry publishes the findings in its May 19 advance online edition.
Mass. Eye and Ear Performs First Auditory Brain Stem Implant Surgery in New England
Surgeons from Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Mass. General Hospital will perform the first Auditory Brain Stem Implant (ABI) surgery in New England on May 20.
The ABI, which can restore the sense of hearing to certain patients, has been implanted in about 500 people worldwide. Since its initial development in 1979 at the House Ear Institute in California, and with its approval by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000, the ABI is used primarily to restore some degree of hearing loss due to Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2).
from Newswise.com
Siemens Hearing Instruments Launches Education Initiative For Schools During Deaf Awareness Week
Siemens Hearing Instruments has kicked off its new education initiative during Deaf Awareness Week with a visit by its hearing ambassador Kellie Moody to a Birmingham based deaf school. The visit and the launch of an education focused website ties into this year’s Deaf Awareness theme of ‘look at me’.
Advanced Bionics Launches ‘Connect To Mentor’ Web Site For Prospective Cochlear Implant Recipients
In the first such online community of its kind, Advanced Bionics, the only U.S.-based manufacturer of cochlear implants (or “bionic ears”), is connecting cochlear recipients and candidates from across the country through its new “Connect to Mentor” Web site. The new site, part of the BEA (Bionic Ear Association) Mentor Program, allows cochlear implant candidates to contact volunteer “mentors” and communicate directly with hearing professionals.
“Advanced Bionics has an actively engaged population of 6,000 BEA members,” said CEO Jeffrey Greiner of Advanced Bionics. “In developing this Web site, the company realized that its most valuable assets are cochlear implant recipients themselves. This site allows them to share their experiences, offer advice to others who might be thinking of being implanted, and help them navigate the process from surgery to entering the hearing world.”
Candidates can use the site (http://www.BionicEar.com/CTM) to search for mentors who include parents of implanted children, relatives of cochlear recipients and adult recipients. Each mentor has a profile complete with a personal photo and facts such as favorite sound, interests (i.e., cell phone user, traveler, musician), hometown, age they were implanted, severity of hearing loss and how they can help cochlear implant candidates. Then, candidates can choose to “start a conversation” with the mentor directly from their profile.
from PRWeb.com
Exposure to 2 languages carries far-reaching benefits
People who can speak two languages are more adept at learning a new foreign language than their monolingual counterparts, according to research conducted at Northwestern University. And their bilingual advantage persists even when the new language they study is completely different from the languages they already know.
from EurekAlert.org
Tone language is key to perfect pitch
In a study published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America and being presented at the ASA meeting in Portland on May 21, Deutsch and her coauthors find that musicians who speak an East Asian tone language fluently are much more likely to have perfect pitch.
“Perfect pitch for years seemed like a beautiful gift – given only to a few genetically endowed people. But our research suggests that it might be available to virtually everybody,” Deutsch said.
from EurekAlert.org
Children with Minimal Conductive Hearing Impairment: Speech Comprehension in Noise
Based on a study sample of 1071 primary school children (5.3-11.7 years), 10.2% of the children were found to have conductive hearing loss in 1 or both ears. Binaural speech comprehension scores of a subset of 540 children were analyzed. The results showed that children with bilateral conductive hearing loss had the lowest mean scores of 60.8-69.3% obtained under noise conditions. These scores were significantly lower than the corresponding scores of 69.3-75.3% obtained by children with possible middle ear disorders but no apparent hearing loss, 70.5-76.5% obtained by children with a unilateral conductive hearing loss and 72.0-80.3% obtained by their normally hearing peers. This study confirms that young children, who are known to have poorer speech understanding in noise, show further disadvantage when a bilateral conductive hearing loss is present.
Earlier Intervention Leads to Better Sound Localization in Children with Bilateral Cochlear Implants
We present sound localization results from 30 children with bilateral cochlear implants. All children received their implants sequentially, at ages from 6 months to 9 years for the first implant and 1.5-12 years for the second implant, with delays of 10 months to 9 years. Localization was measured in the sound field, with a broadband bell-ring presented from 1 of 9 loudspeakers positioned in the frontal horizontal plane. The majority of the children (63%) were able to localize this signal significantly better than chance level. Mean absolute error scores varied from 9 to 51° (root mean square error scores from 13 to 63°). The best scores were obtained by children who received their first implant before the age of 2 years and by children who used hearing aids prior to implantation for a period of 18 months or longer. Age at second implantation was important in the group of children who did not use a contralateral hearing aid during the unilateral implant period. Additionally, children who attended a mainstream school had significantly better localization scores than children who attended a school for the deaf. No other child or implantation variables were related to localization performance. Data of parent questionnaires derived from the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale were significantly correlated with localization performance. This study shows that the sound localization ability of children with bilateral cochlear implants varies across subjects, from near-normal to chance performance, and that stimulation early in life, acoustically or electrically, is important for the development of this capacity.
Sound Localization and Binaural Hearing in Children with a Hearing Aid and a Cochlear Implant
The aims of the study were to investigate whether sound localization acuity improved when children with 1 cochlear implant use a hearing aid in the contralateral ear (bimodal fitting), and whether this enabled them to benefit from a binaural masking level difference. Four different noise bursts were used as stimuli for a minimal audible angle localization test. On average, localization acuity remained poor with the cochlear implant alone, but also with bimodal fitting. A significant benefit of bimodal fitting was only shown when the most complicated stimulus with roved amplitude and spectrum was presented (minimal audible angle of 151° with bimodal fitting vs. 175° with cochlear implant alone). No significant binaural masking level difference was found between the cochlear implant alone and the bimodal condition.
