Oral Language Comprehension Using Hearing Aids and Tactile Aids

Abstract

Three prelinguistic, profoundly deaf children used a wearable, single channel, vibrotactile communication aid in conjunction with hearing aids for nearly 2 years during individual speech and language therapy at school for an average of 35 hours per year. Results of two different standardized language tests, the Scales of Early Communication Skills for Hearing Impaired Children (SECS) and the Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language (TACL), revealed that subjects exhibited a faster than average rate of learning to understand spoken language after onset of vibrotactile stimulation. An analysis of mean percent correct for individual test items on the TACL was completed for the first time that the test could be administered according to protocol and for the last test administration, 14, 12, and 16 months later for Subjects 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Results of item analysis of test content showed that, from the first to the last test administration, understanding of orally presented vocabulary improved by 27%, morphology improved by 22% and syntax improved by 6.4%.