Developmental Effects and Spatial Hearing in Young Children With Normal-Hearing Sensitivity

Abstract

Young children exhibit significantly poorer speech recognition than do older children and adults in a classroom, especially when speech and noise are presented from the same location. Given the poor acoustics of typical classrooms, and the earlier age at which many children are educated, special modifications to classrooms may be necessary to improve listening through acoustic modifications or classroom amplification. A combination of a parent or teacher questionnaire and the PINT may be helpful in identifying children who are at risk for educational delays and listening difficulties in classrooms with typically poor acoustics.