Hearing Facts and Statistics

Interesting Facts

• Children spend at least 45% of their school day listening.
• 90% of a young child's knowledge comes from hearing others.
• Auditory processing ability isn't fully developed until the teen years.

More Facts

• 80% of 4-10 year olds experience temporary hearing loss during the school year.
• Children with ADHD, ADD, APD, speech impairments, and those with LD or dyslexia may have hearing difficulties.

Hearing Statistics

• 15% of US children aged 6-19 have measurable hearing loss in one or both ears.
• 37% of children with minimal hearing loss fail at least one grade.
• Central Auditory Processing Disorders affect 5% of children.

Hearing and Respiratory Infections

• The average elementary child has about 7 upper respiratory infections per year.
• Hearing loss from ear infections can last weeks or months.
• Fluid from an ear infection takes about 40 days to drain.
• The average hearing loss from an infection is 20 dB.
• A child with this level of hearing loss can miss 30-50% of a classroom teacher's instruction.
• 30% of children with learning disabilities have a history of chronic ear infections.

Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD)

• CAPD is a processing disorder where speech fades or drops out in the presence of environmental noise.
• Articulation may be close to normal.
• Individuals may hear music/noise at a level above typical.
• CAPD is usually not detected by normal hearing tests.
• Formal diagnosis may involve physicians, speech therapists, school psychologists, and teachers.
• Assessment may include: a complete audiological battery, CAPD battery (age 7.5), listening inventory, electrophysiological measures (auditory brain stem responses), speech-language exams, and behavioral measures (for ADHD).

Signs of CAPD

• Poor attention skills
• Balance issues
• Inability to follow directions
• Lack of social skills/few friends
• Poor spelling
• Unusual responses to loud noises (e.g., fire alarms)
• Inability to multitask while listening
• Turning one ear towards the listener
• Short auditory memory span
• Recalling only the last part of a sequence and forgetting it soon after
• Requesting information to be repeated
• Distraction, especially in background noise
• Problems with phonics skills
• More common when chronic ear infections are present
• Higher incidence rate with ADD, LD, and other disabilities

Acoustic Environments of Childhood

• Home
• Classroom
• Lunch Room
• Gym
• Outdoors

Student Statements on Hearing

• "I just hear everyone talking at once..."
• "When I'm in a group, it just sounds like static..."
• "I can't hear anything when the teacher writes on the board..."

Hearing Difficulties

• Certain sounds may be hard to hear for children with mild peripheral hearing problems.
• Problems occur during the critical period of cortical mapping (first one to two years of life).

Vision-Hearing Connection

• The McGurk Effect demonstrates this.

Factors to Consider

• Distance
• Noise
• Reverberation-Echo

Distance and Hearing

• Students in the front of the class receive 83% of sound.
• Students in the middle receive about 66%.
• Students in the back row receive 55%.
• Every 6 ft of distance yields a loss of 6 dB

Noise Levels

• Students with listening difficulties need a signal-to-noise ratio of 15 to 20 decibels.
• Everyday noises like talking, traffic, and moving chairs can reach 60-64 decibels.
• Most teachers speak at a maximum of 65 decibels.

Reverberation-Echo

• It is the sound reflected from hard surfaces in a room.
• Children with hearing problems can be bothered by echo.

ADHD Characteristics

• Inattentive
• Distracted
• Hyperactive
• Fidgety/restless
• Hasty/impulsive
• Interrupts/intrudes

CAPD Treatment Strategies

• Environmental modifications
• Compensatory strategies
• Deficit-specific training

Environmental Modifications

• Provide quiet, non-distracting areas
• Speak slowly and clearly
• Use visual models
• Get attention by touch or calling their names
• Landscape with trees

Classroom Environmental Modifications

• Provide special seating
• Reduce noise in classroom
• Reduce noise from hall

Classroom Isolation Strategies

• Isolate at desk
• Isolate in special areas

Compensation Strategies

• Enhance sound
• Eliminate noise and distractions
• Improve signal-to-noise levels

Sound Field FM Amplification

• Has microphone and transmitter
• Amplification around 8-10 decibels
• Provides uniform amplification

Options Available for Amplification

• Personal worn FM systems
• Sound Field Systems
• Light Speed Enhancement Systems
• Desktop FM systems
• Facilitator

HEARIT Classroom Broadcaster Features

• Teaching Flexibility
• Room Benefits
• Uses AA batteries
• Microphone Choice

Facts About Classroom Amplification

• Spelling scores in a study of 145 students improved as much as one grade level with classroom amplification
• The number of students placed into learning disability programs has been reduced by as much as 40% in schools using classroom amplification
• In one study of 2,000 students in general education classrooms, 96% of teachers reported improvements in attentiveness, listening, and comprehension
• 92% reported less emotional strain and vocal fatigue
• Students have been shown to be twice as likely to make high-level literacy gains

Home Options

• Insulate study areas and reduce distractions
• Use carpeting, remove the telephone, siblings, and other distractions
• Provide "coaching" or tutoring
• Use ear muffs/plugs

Compensation Strategies

• Self-advocacy
• Pre-tutor
• Notes from buddy
• Tape recorder with reduced speed playback

Deficit Specific Training Options

• Earoibics
• Fast ForWord