scholarly journals Exploring the Types of Stories Hearing Parents Tell About Rearing their Children Who Use Cochlear Implants

2021 ◽  
Vol Publish Ahead of Print ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittan A. Barker ◽  
Kristina M. Scharp ◽  
Kelsey L. Chandler ◽  
Emma B. Bowman
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Hearing Parents

Theory-of-Mind Development in Young Deaf Children With Early Hearing Provisions

2020 ◽  
pp. 095679762096038
Author(s):  
Chi-Lin Yu ◽  
Christopher M. Stanzione ◽  
Henry M. Wellman ◽  
Amy R. Lederberg
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Hearing Parents ◽  
Developmental Relationship

Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children born to hearing parents have profound theory-of-mind (ToM) delays, yet little is known about how providing hearing assistance early in life, through cochlear implants and hearing aids, influences their ToM development. We thus addressed (a) whether young DHH children with early hearing provision developed ToM differently than older children did in previous research and (b) what ToM understandings characterize this understudied population. Findings from 84 three- to six-year-old DHH children primarily acquiring spoken language demonstrated that accumulated hearing experience influenced their ToM, as measured by a five-step ToM scale. Moreover, language abilities mediated this developmental relationship: Children with more advanced language abilities, because of more time using cochlear implants and hearing aids, had better ToM growth. These findings demonstrate the crucial relationships among hearing, language, and ToM for DHH children acquiring spoken language, thereby addressing theoretical and practical questions about ToM development.

Disability or language barrier? Attitudes towards deafness among hearing parents of children with hearing impairment

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-96
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Makowiecka
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Sociocultural Perspective ◽  
Knowledge And Beliefs ◽  
Hearing Parents ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Communication Method ◽  
Item Scale

The aim of the following article was to investigate the attitudes towards different aspects of deafness among hearing parents of children with hearing impairment. It was hypothesized that the valence of the attitude correlates with various factors, for instance: parents’ level of education, child’s age and number of other people with hearing loss known by the parents. For the purpose of this research, a 32-item scale, based on the theory of dualistic models of attitudes was created. Positive attitudes were associated with preference for sociocultural perspective on deafness, including respect for child’s preferred communication method, acceptance for sign language, perceiving people with hearing loss as able-bodied. Contrarily, negative perspective was related to the medical perspective on deafness, which includes insisting on curing deafness and treating it as a disability which requires supportive solutions e.g. hearing aids or cochlear implants. Neither of the two models appeared dominant. Further analyses were addressed to explore parents’ knowledge and beliefs about hearing impairment.

scholarly journals Exploring the Types of Stories Hearing Parents Tell About Rearing their Children who use Cochlear Implants

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittan Ann Barker ◽  
Kristina Scharp ◽  
Kelsey L. Chandler ◽  
Emma Brown
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Cochlear Implantation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
The United States ◽  
Healthcare Outcomes ◽  
Hearing Parents ◽  
The Family

Objectives. The majority of children born in the United States with hearing loss are born to parents with hearing. Many of these parents ultimately choose cochlear implantation for their children. There are now decades of research showing that these children’s speech, language, listening, and education, seem to benefit from cochlear implantation. To date, however, we know little about the experiences of the parents who guided these children throughout their journeys. We propose that elucidating the types of stories these parents tell is a first step toward understanding their varied experiences and has the potential to ultimately improve healthcare outcomes for both children and their families. Thus, to better understand parents’ experience, we asked the following research question: what types of stories do parents with hearing tell about rearing their children with hearing loss who use cochlear implants? Design. In this prospective qualitative study, we employed a narrative approach. Specifically, we conducted narrative interviews with 20 hearing parents who are rearing young children (mean age = 5.4 years) born with hearing loss who use cochlear implants. We then used thematic narrative analysis to identify recurring themes throughout the narratives that coalesced into the types of stories parents told about their experiences. Results. Thematic narrative analysis revealed five story types: (1) stories of personal growth, (2) proactive stories, (3) stories of strain and inundation, (4) detached stories, and (5) stories of persistence. Conclusions. In the present study, different types of stories emerged from parents’ experiences that share common events—a family’s baby is identified at birth with unexpected permanent hearing loss, the family chooses to pursue cochlear implantation for their child, and then the family raises said pediatric cochlear implant user into adulthood. Despite these similarities, the stories also varied in their sensemaking. Some parents told stories in which a positive life narrative turned bad whereas others told stories in which a narrative of surviving turned into one of thriving. These findings specifically contribute to the field of hearing healthcare by providing professionals with insight into parents’ sensemaking via the types of stories they shared centered on their perceptions and experiences following their child’s diagnosis of hearing loss and their decision to pursue cochlear implantation.

Cochlear Implants and Infants: Expectations and Outcomes

2002 ◽  
Vol 111 (5_suppl) ◽  
pp. 131-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maree Wright ◽  
Alison Purcell ◽  
Vicki A. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Motor Development ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Cochlear Implantation ◽  
Receptive Language ◽  
Hearing Parents ◽  
Measurement Tools ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Oral Language Skills ◽  
English Speaking

This study followed the communication and motor development of 3 profoundly deaf infants who underwent cochlear implantation. All infants were receiving auditory habilitation at the Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre, Australia, with the view to acquiring oral language skills and had English-speaking, hearing parents. Their progress was tracked with a battery of measurement tools before and after cochlear implantation. The results indicated noticeable growth in receptive language and motor skills after operation. Although expressive language improved, the rate of growth was much slower than changes in other areas. Although some areas of the subjects' communication skills remained delayed, the importance of tracking their progress according to their hearing age, as well as the chronological age, was evident.

Effects of Fundamental Frequency Contours on Sentence Recognition in Mandarin-Speaking Children With Cochlear Implants

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 3855-3864
Author(s):  
Wanting Huang ◽  
Lena L. N. Wong ◽  
Fei Chen ◽  
Haihong Liu ◽  
Wei Liang
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Sentence Recognition ◽  
Test Conditions ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
F0 Contour ◽  
Appropriate Sentences

Purpose Fundamental frequency (F0) is the primary acoustic cue for lexical tone perception in tonal languages but is processed in a limited way in cochlear implant (CI) systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the importance of F0 contours in sentence recognition in Mandarin-speaking children with CIs and find out whether it is similar to/different from that in age-matched normal-hearing (NH) peers. Method Age-appropriate sentences, with F0 contours manipulated to be either natural or flattened, were randomly presented to preschool children with CIs and their age-matched peers with NH under three test conditions: in quiet, in white noise, and with competing sentences at 0 dB signal-to-noise ratio. Results The neutralization of F0 contours resulted in a significant reduction in sentence recognition. While this was seen only in noise conditions among NH children, it was observed throughout all test conditions among children with CIs. Moreover, the F0 contour-induced accuracy reduction ratios (i.e., the reduction in sentence recognition resulting from the neutralization of F0 contours compared to the normal F0 condition) were significantly greater in children with CIs than in NH children in all test conditions. Conclusions F0 contours play a major role in sentence recognition in both quiet and noise among pediatric implantees, and the contribution of the F0 contour is even more salient than that in age-matched NH children. These results also suggest that there may be differences between children with CIs and NH children in how F0 contours are processed.

Age at Full-Time Use Predicts Language Outcomes Better Than Age of Surgery in Children Who Use Cochlear Implants

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 986-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa R. Park ◽  
Erika B. Gagnon ◽  
Erin Thompson ◽  
Kevin D. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Time Use ◽  
Expressive Language ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Language Outcomes ◽  
Age At Surgery ◽  
Device Placement ◽  
Device Use ◽  
Better Than

Purpose The aims of this study were to (a) determine a metric for describing full-time use (FTU), (b) establish whether age at FTU in children with cochlear implants (CIs) predicts language at 3 years of age better than age at surgery, and (c) describe the extent of FTU and length of time it took to establish FTU in this population. Method This retrospective analysis examined receptive and expressive language outcomes at 3 years of age for 40 children with CIs. Multiple linear regression analyses were run with age at surgery and age at FTU as predictor variables. FTU definitions included 8 hr of device use and 80% of average waking hours for a typically developing child. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the establishment and degree of FTU. Results Although 8 hr of daily wear is typically considered FTU in the literature, the 80% hearing hours percentage metric accounts for more variability in outcomes. For both receptive and expressive language, age at FTU was found to be a better predictor of outcomes than age at surgery. It took an average of 17 months for children in this cohort to establish FTU, and only 52.5% reached this milestone by the time they were 3 years old. Conclusions Children with normal hearing can access spoken language whenever they are awake, and the amount of time young children are awake increases with age. A metric that incorporates the percentage of time that children with CIs have access to sound as compared to their same-aged peers with normal hearing accounts for more variability in outcomes than using an arbitrary number of hours. Although early FTU is not possible without surgery occurring at a young age, device placement does not guarantee use and does not predict language outcomes as well as age at FTU.

Overview of Current Approaches to Aural Rehabilitation for Adults With Cochlear Implants

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1175-1187
Author(s):  
Rachel Glade ◽  
Erin Taylor ◽  
Deborah S. Culbertson ◽  
Christin Ray
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Practice Patterns ◽  
The United States ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Aural Rehabilitation ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Clinical Models ◽  
Hearing Health

Purpose This clinical focus article provides an overview of clinical models currently being used for the provision of comprehensive aural rehabilitation (AR) for adults with cochlear implants (CIs) in the Unites States. Method Clinical AR models utilized by hearing health care providers from nine clinics across the United States were discussed with regard to interprofessional AR practice patterns in the adult CI population. The clinical models were presented in the context of existing knowledge and gaps in the literature. Future directions were proposed for optimizing the provision of AR for the adult CI patient population. Findings/Conclusions There is a general agreement that AR is an integral part of hearing health care for adults with CIs. While the provision of AR is feasible in different clinical practice settings, service delivery models are variable across hearing health care professionals and settings. AR may include interprofessional collaboration among surgeons, audiologists, and speech-language pathologists with varying roles based on the characteristics of a particular setting. Despite various existing barriers, the clinical practice patterns identified here provide a starting point toward a more standard approach to comprehensive AR for adults with CIs.

Selecting the Optimal FM System for Children With Cochlear Implants

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
Erin C. Schafer
Keyword(s):  
Speech Recognition ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Speech Processor ◽  
System Input ◽  
Optimal Type

Children who use cochlear implants experience significant difficulty hearing speech in the presence of background noise, such as in the classroom. To address these difficulties, audiologists often recommend frequency-modulated (FM) systems for children with cochlear implants. The purpose of this article is to examine current empirical research in the area of FM systems and cochlear implants. Discussion topics will include selecting the optimal type of FM receiver, benefits of binaural FM-system input, importance of DAI receiver-gain settings, and effects of speech-processor programming on speech recognition. FM systems significantly improve the signal-to-noise ratio at the child's ear through the use of three types of FM receivers: mounted speakers, desktop speakers, or direct-audio input (DAI). This discussion will aid audiologists in making evidence-based recommendations for children using cochlear implants and FM systems.

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