Classroom acoustics and the inclusion of hard of hearing children, helping the data be heard

Abstract

Data on speech perception in children have led to acoustic accommodations in built schools for children with typical hearing but, despite compelling data, not for children who are hard of hearing. The ways to meet the acoustic needs of hard of hearing children are well researched and established in standards. After many years, however, the message is still not disseminating to architects, school districts, and building officials, and thus rarely makes its way into classroom construction. To help bring classroom accessibility to hard of hearing children, a team from the fields of acoustical engineering, architecture, and audiology is using speech perception data and computer simulations to promote inclusion in school design. This multi-year, multi-disciplinary effort began with earlier federal and foundation fundings for research on speech perception in hard of hearing children, which led to development of a new voluntary acoustic standard for schools by the American National Standards Institute. The goal of this work now is to get this standard into the hands of architects and school districts, and ultimately into building codes to have classroom acoustics designed for all students including those hard of hearing.