A new speech perception test for profoundly deaf children

Abstract

This paper outlines a simple speech perception test for severely and profoundly deaf children (the Maltby Speech Perception Test), which seeks to evaluate the ability to receive and to use a range of minimal auditory cues to word recognition. In general, it is the suprasegmental aspects of speech that are likely to be most accessible to profoundly deaf children. This test includes these aspects as well as other cues, such as vowel contrasts and the identification of consonant voicing. Certain more high-frequency cues are also included as these might be available to some less profoundly deaf children and to at least some severely deaf children. This test was evaluated on 93 profoundly deaf children and 53 children within the range of hearing from normal to severe. The test is valid and reliable. The tasks required are relatively simple for children with normal hearing and for those with mild or moderate hearing loss, and the test is therefore only appropriate for children who are severely or profoundly deaf. The range of scores obtained illustrates the value of undertaking individual speech testing even where there is very limited residual hearing. It is suggested that the information gained from the Maltby Speech Perception Test can be of value in education and habilitation, and can add useful information to that obtained from the pure tone audiogram and the aided audiogram. Copyright © 2000 Whurr Publishers Ltd.