A pilot study of telepractice for teaching listening and spoken language to Mandarin-speaking children with congenital hearing loss

Abstract

ABSTRACTTelepractice provides an alternative form of auditory-verbal therapy (eAVT) intervention through videoconferencing; this can be of immense benefit for children with hearing loss, especially those living in rural or remote areas. The effectiveness of eAVT for the language development of Mandarin-speaking preschoolers with hearing loss was investigated by comparing the language outcomes of matched groups of children with hearing loss who received eAVT to those who obtained therapy in face-to-face sessions. Five children in each group were matched on age, extent of hearing loss, age at fitting for amplifications, and enrolment period in AVT. No significant difference was found in language scores between the two groups. Five parents’ and four therapists’ levels of satisfaction with eAVT sessions were assessed. Most sessions were highly rated by the respondents. No significant differences in satisfaction between parents and therapists were found regarding the domains of eAVT and the total rating scores. The results demonstrate that eAVT is a viable alternative to face-to-face therapy for Mandarin-speaking children with hearing loss, especially those who live in rural or remote areas.