Impact of Children's Auditory Technology (iCAT)

儿童听觉技术 (iCAT) 的影响

• 批准号: MR/X035999/1
• 负责人: Hannah Stewart
• 金额: $ 192.31万
• 依托单位: Lancaster University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FX035999%2F1
• 关键词: Impact; Children; Auditory; Technology; iCAT

Five percent of children have disabling hearing loss. These children often experience delayed speech and language development. Although the majority of these children attend mainstream schools in the UK, only 34% achieve two A-levels (or the equivalent), compared to 55% of their hearing peers. Mild-to-moderate hearing loss (MMHL) is the most common hearing impairment in children. However, despite the effect of their hearing impairment on development it is the least understood form of hearing loss in children. This means there is an urgent need for research on this group in order to meet the goal set by the National Deaf Children's Society (the UK's biggest children's hearing charity and a partner on this project) of making sure that "by 2030, no deaf child will be left behind".Children with MMHL are prescribed auditory technology (AT) to assist them. Hearing aids are more advanced and accessible than ever, and assisted listening devices - where a talker's speech is streamed directly to the hearing aid to reduce the effects of a noisy background - are now common in classrooms. However, AT is designed based on how adults communicate: adults generally look at the person they are talking with and ask for information to be repeated when they do not hear clearly. On the other hand, children with normal hearing do not look. It is unknown if children with MMHL look at the talker while they listen. This has an impact on the effectiveness of the AT algorithms. PI Stewart has shown that children with MMHL do not have the same improvements in attention, memory and learning as adults do when using AT. This could be due to 1) the children are not wearing their AT; 2) the ATs are "too much of a good thing" and have short- or long-term effects on key hearing and listening skills (e.g. children have found that they can hear without turning to look at the talker); or 3) the ATs are not appropriate for children.To test these hypotheses, we will first systematically review children's AT usage across the UK. Second, we will gather data on the developmental impact of ATs over an 18-month period. Key hearing and listening skills including working out where a sound came from and combining audio with visual information will be assessed. Third, we will assess how children with MMHL communicate with adults and children. We will do this in a research lab in the form of a classroom where eye and head movements and brain activity can be measured. This will allow iCAT to evaluate if AT algorithms (e.g. designed for the listener to look at the talker) are appropriate for children. iCAT will work with industry, audiologists and teachers of the deaf throughout the project to ensure change towards providing child-appropriate ATs for the benefit of children with MMHL. Through the publication of white papers, iCAT will work with UK-based charities and professional bodies to create evidence-based recommendations for policy regarding the use and fitting of the AT in children with MMHL.

百分之五的儿童有听力损失。这些孩子经常会出现言语和语言发育迟缓。尽管这些孩子中的大多数都在英国的主流学校上学，但只有34%的孩子达到了两个A级（或同等水平），而听力正常的同龄人中有55%达到了A级。轻度至中度听力损失（MMHL）是儿童中最常见的听力障碍。然而，尽管他们的听力障碍对发育的影响，但它是儿童听力损失中最不了解的形式。这意味着迫切需要对这一群体进行研究，以实现国家聋人儿童协会（英国最大的儿童听力慈善机构，也是该项目的合作伙伴）设定的目标，即确保“到2030年，没有一个聋人儿童被落下”。助听器比以往任何时候都更先进和更容易获得，辅助听力设备-说话者的语音直接传输到助听器以减少嘈杂背景的影响-现在在教室里很常见。然而，AT是根据成年人的沟通方式设计的：成年人通常会看着他们正在交谈的人，并在他们听不清楚的时候要求重复信息。另一方面，听力正常的孩子不看。不知道患有MMHL的孩子在听的时候是否会看着说话的人。这对AT算法的有效性有影响。PI斯图尔特已经表明，MMHL儿童在使用AT时，注意力，记忆力和学习能力并没有像成年人那样得到改善。这可能是由于1）孩子们没有佩戴AT; 2）AT是“太好的东西”，并且对关键的听力和倾听技能有短期或长期影响（例如，孩子们发现他们可以在不回头看说话者的情况下听到）;为了验证这些假设，我们将首先系统地回顾英国儿童使用AT的情况。其次，我们将收集18个月内AT对发育影响的数据。关键的听力和听力技能，包括工作的声音来自哪里，并结合音频与视觉信息将进行评估。第三，我们将评估MMHL儿童如何与成人和儿童沟通。我们将在教室形式的研究实验室中进行这项工作，在那里可以测量眼睛和头部的运动以及大脑活动。这将允许iCAT评估AT算法（例如，为倾听者设计的观看说话者）是否适合儿童。iCAT将在整个项目中与行业、听力学家和聋人教师合作，以确保为MMHL儿童提供适合儿童的AT。通过发布白色文件，iCAT将与英国的慈善机构和专业机构合作，为MMHL儿童使用和安装AT的政策制定循证建议。