Question
Can assistive listening devices help children who do not have hearing loss but could benefit from a better signal-to-noise ratio?
Answer
Studies from the U.S. and Denmark show that digital assistive listening devices are a great aid for students with dyslexia, autism, learning problems and concentration difficulties. More and more students have difficulty following traditional schooling because of concentration and learning difficulties. Often, these students get diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), auditory processing disorder (APD), Dyslexia or other types of speech or writing difficulties.
Digital hearing products have proven to be good complements to other treatments in mitigating concentration difficulties. A substantially better learning environment is accomplished with the use of personal digital hearing products. Distracting background noise is markedly reduced, and the student can hear the teacher more clearly. It becomes easier to maintain concentration throughout an entire school day, which increases learning.
I performed a study of 20 normal-hearing children, ages 10-11, from two different school classes (Lejon, 2014). I used the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA), which comprises 12 subtests, measuring how well students can read, write and spell. One subtest focuses specifically on auditory sequencing and tests the effectiveness of a child’s short-term auditory memory.
My findings revealed that 13 out of 16 normal-hearing students were better able to absorb information and follow instructions when using digital hearing products than when listening on their own. The study was performed in a typical school environment; participants were equipped with Comfort Focus receiver and transmitter. The improvement was especially great among those children who struggled with concentration.
The most important observation was that students with poor results in school, often due to concentration difficulties, reached the level of knowledge expected for their age group. Students at an average knowledge level also reached higher levels compared to their peers.
From this study, we know that high-quality assistive listening devices, such as the Comfort Audio Comfort Focus, positively affects the normal auditory sequencing in children in a normal school environment, including those with other learning difficulties besides hearing loss.
Reference
Lejon, A. K. (April 2014). Comfort Focus and auditory sequencing. Retrieved from Comfort Audio website: https://www.comfortaudio.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files_mf/comfortfocusandauditorysequencing1404.pdf
For more information, please visit www.comfortaudio.com or the Comfort Audio Expo Page on AudiologyOnline.
