Research to find out why some children with hearing problems speak better than others
July 8, 2013
An American expert visiting the University of Canterbury (UC) is researching why some children with hearing problems
learn to speak better much more quickly than others after receiving hearing implants.
Professor Barbara Davis is an Erskine visitor from the University of Texas. The Erskine fellowship programme was
established in 1963 following a generous bequest by former distinguished UC student John Erskine.
Professor Davis says implants help people with hearing difficulties to hear better and speak more correctly.
``I am studying emergence of speech production abilities as it relates to understanding individual differences in
children's response to their implants,’’ Professor Davis says.
``Some children develop understandable speech very quickly and others have a protracted course of development and may
never develop speech that is easy to understand for others.
``I am looking at the rate of speech improvement in young children who receive implants. Then we can identify important
factors that may be associated with good and not such good outcomes related to speech production development.
``I am also testing children to find out if other factors such as their general language abilities may relate to their
success at achieving understandable speech.
``I am interested in what type of environmental factors may be related to predicting children who will profit easily
from the cochlear implant in developing spoken speech and language abilities relative to those who need long-term
intervention to develop adequate speech and language abilities.
``My work at the University of Texas at Austin also involves colleagues who study brain responses to sound, as well as
early language acquisition more generally,’’ Professor Davis says.
The National Foundation for the Deaf says by 2050 one in four New Zealanders will suffer from hearing loss, compared to
one in six in 2005.
The foundation estimates hearing loss is costing the country $2.83 billion, or 1.4 per cent of GDP. A significant amount
of hearing loss, 37 per cent, is due to excessive noise exposure which is preventable.
ENDS