Auditory Intervention in Late-Identified Children With Hearing Loss

Abstract

This study examined the effects of a 9-week auditory intervention on the auditory skills of five children with hearing loss who experienced prolonged auditory deprivation before receiving hearing aids. A single-case multiple baseline design across participants was used to examine the effect of the intervention on the children’s auditory skills using a weekly probe. The analyses showed a moderate to high intervention effect for three out of five participants. Children demonstrated gains in detection, discrimination, and identification, and Participant 5 also showed gains in sentence comprehension. Findings provide preliminary support for offering auditory intervention to children with hearing loss who are late identified and aided in the presence of residual hearing.