title: Hear here: children with hearing loss learn words by listening.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Early use of hearing devices and family participation in auditory-verbal therapy has been associated with age-appropriate verbal communication outcomes for children with hearing loss. However, there continues to be great variability in outcomes across different oral intervention programmes and little consensus on how therapists should prioritise goals at each therapy session for positive clinical outcomes. This pilot intervention study aimed to determine whether therapy goals that concentrate on teaching preschool children with hearing loss how to distinguish between words in a structured listening programme is effective, and whether gains in speech perception skills impact on vocabulary and speech development without them having to be worked on directly in therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A multiple baseline across subjects design was used in this within-subject controlled study. 3 children aged between 2:6 and 3:1 with moderate-severe to severe-profound hearing loss were recruited for a 6-week intervention programme. Each participant commenced at different stages of the 10-staged listening programme depending on their individual listening skills at recruitment. Speech development and vocabulary assessments were conducted before and after the training programme in addition to speech perception assessments and probes conducted throughout the intervention programme.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All participants made gains in speech perception skills as well as vocabulary and speech development. Speech perception skills acquired were noted to be maintained a week after intervention. In addition, all participants were able to generalise speech perception skills learnt to words that had not been used in the intervention programme.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This pilot study found that therapy directed at listening alone is promising and that it may have positive impact on speech and vocabulary development without these goals having to be incorporated into a therapy programme. Although a larger study is necessary for more conclusive findings, the results from this preliminary study are promising in support of emphasise on listening skills within auditory-verbal therapy programmes.
authors.affiliation: National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Department of Otolaryngology, NUHS Tower Block, Level 7, 1E Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119228, Singapore; The University of Sydney, Discipline of Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, P.O. Box 170, Lidcombe, NSW 1825, Australia. Electronic address: Joyce.Lew@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lew
authors.affiliation: The University of Sydney, Discipline of Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, P.O. Box 170, Lidcombe, NSW 1825, Australia. Electronic address: Alison.Purcell@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Alison A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Purcell
authors.affiliation: The University of Sydney, Discipline of Speech Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, P.O. Box 170, Lidcombe, NSW 1825, Australia. Electronic address: Maree.Doble@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Maree
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Doble
authors.affiliation: National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Department of Otolaryngology, NUHS Tower Block, Level 7, 1E Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119228, Singapore. Electronic address: Lynne_Lim@nuhs.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Lynne H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology*; D006310:Hearing Aids; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014825:Vocabulary
keywords: Auditory-verbal; Children; Hearing loss; Speech; Speech perception; Vocabulary