Speech and Hearing Science Commons^™

Advanced Phenotyping Of Otosclerosis In An Ontario Population And Two Large Newfoundland Families, Matthew B. Lucas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Otosclerosis is a relatively common hearing loss disorder characterized by abnormal bone growth in the otic capsule leading to stapes fixation. In approximately half of cases, otosclerosis is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. Typically, gene discovery efforts rely on surgical confirmation, audiometry and occasionally acoustic reflexes to identify affected cases of otosclerosis within families, requiring that the otosclerosis was at an advanced stage to be detected. This makes it difficult to identify individuals with early otosclerosis. The use of advanced phenotyping to identify cases of otosclerosis was tested in an Ontario otosclerotic population as well as in two large …

Manipulation Of Auditory Feedback In Individuals With Normal Hearing And Hearing Loss, Le Truc Linh Vaccarello

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Auditory feedback, the hearing of one’s own voice, plays an important role in the detection of speech errors and the regulation of speech production. The limited auditory cues available with a hearing loss can reduce the ability of individuals with hearing loss to use their auditory feedback. Hearing aids are a common assistive device that amplifies inaudible sounds. Hearing aids can also change auditory feedback through digital signal processing, such as frequency lowering. Frequency lowering moves high frequency information of an incoming auditory stimulus into a lower frequency region where audibility may be better. This can change how speech sounds …

Exploring The Self-Regulatory Behaviors Of Elementary Students With Hearing Loss In Inclusive Classrooms, Kendra Di Bacco

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

An exploratory, mixed-method and multi-level research design was employed to examine relationships among students’ hearing loss, academic achievement and self-regulation (SR), classroom background noise levels, teachers’ perceptions of inclusion of students who are hard of hearing (HH) and features of classroom instruction that support SR. Data consisted of 10 elementary teachers’ perceptions of the inclusion, and ratings of 131 students’, of whom 8 were hard of hearing, SR and academic achievement scores. Classroom observations were conducted to obtain background noise levels and to examine whether and how teachers implement the features of classroom contexts to support SR within their classroom. …

Factors In The Client-Clinician Interaction That Are Perceived To Influence Hearing Aid Adoption In First Time Hearing Aid Candidates And Their Rated Importance By Clients And Clinicians, Laya Poost-Foroosh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this dissertation was to gain a better understanding of the impact of the client-clinician interaction in the hearing aid adoption process. The specific goals of this dissertation were: 1) to identify factors in client-clinician interactions that were perceived by clients and clinicians to influence hearing aid adoption in first time adult hearing aid candidates, 2) to investigate the importance of the identified factors from clients and clinicians perspectives, and 3) to compare the importance of the identified factors between clients and clinicians. These goals were achieved using a mixed-methods approach.

Three studies were undertaken. In the first …