Speech Understanding in Complex Environments by School-Age Children with Mild Bilateral or Unilateral Hearing Loss

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown that children with mild bilateral (MBHL) or unilateral hearing loss (UHL) experience speech perception difficulties in poor acoustics. Much of the research in this area has been conducted via laboratory studies using speech-recognition tasks with a single talker and presentation via earphones and/or from a loudspeaker located directly in front of the listener. Real-world speech understanding is more complex, however, and these children may need to exert greater effort than their peers with normal hearing to understand speech, potentially impacting progress in a number of developmental areas. This article discusses issues and research relative to speech understanding in complex environments for children with MBHL or UHL and implications for real-world listening and understanding.

Keywords

mild bilateral hearing loss - unilateral hearing loss - children - speech perception

Disclosures

D.E.L. is a member of the Phonak Pediatric Advisory Board. The membership has no conflicts with the content of this article.

Publication History

Article published online:
02 March 2023

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