Effects of Grade and School Services on Children's Responsibility for Hearing Aid Care.

Purpose We investigated trends in hearing aid maintenance and assumption of responsibility for hearing aids in school-age children who are hard of hearing. Specifically, we examined the extent to which families own necessary hearing aid maintenance equipment, whether and by whom hearing aid maintenance tasks are being completed, and the effects of grade and receipt of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 plan on a child's assumption of responsibility for hearing aid care. Method Participants included 167 children who are hard of hearing in 1st to 4th grade. Caregivers reported whether the families owned various types of hearing aid maintenance equipment (listening tube, battery tester, and dri-aid kit) and who normally completes various hearing aid maintenance tasks. Information about children's audiological characteristics was also collected. Results Thirty-two percent of families reported not owning at least 1 piece of hearing aid maintenance equipment. Using a battery tester and performing a listening check were the maintenance tasks completed the least frequently, with 49% and 28% of caregivers reporting that these tasks are not completed regularly, respectively. Children's responsibility for hearing aid maintenance increased with grade. After controlling for maternal education and degree of hearing loss, children with an IEP or 504 plan took more responsibility for hearing aid maintenance tasks than children without these services. Conclusion Important hearing aid maintenance tasks, such as listening checks, are not completed regularly for many children, even when families own the necessary equipment. Ensuring that children who are hard of hearing have an IEP or 504 plan throughout elementary school may support self-advocacy and encourage children to take responsibility for their hearing aids, which may lead to more consistent hearing aid functioning.

Linear Mixed-Model Analysis to Examine Longitudinal Trajectories in Vocabulary Depth and Breadth in Children Who Are Hard of Hearing.

Purpose Children who are hard of hearing (CHH) tend to have reduced vocabularies compared to children with normal hearing (CNH). Prior research on vocabulary skills in children with hearing loss has focused primarily on their breadth of knowledge (how many words are known). Depth of vocabulary knowledge (how well words are known) is not well documented for CHH. The current study used linear mixed models (LMMs) to investigate growth trajectories of vocabulary depth and breadth in CHH relative to age-matched CNH. Method Participants for this study included 155 children (93 CHH, 62 CNH) enrolled in a longitudinal study. Examiners administered a standardized measure of vocabulary knowledge at ages 7, 8, and 9 years. We constructed multiple LMMs with fixed effects for group and age. The models included various combinations of random intercepts for subject and item and random slope for age. Results For depth, CHH showed significant and stable deficits compared to CNH over time. For breadth, CNH showed greater vocabulary breadth, but the group differences diminished with age. For CHH, higher aided audibility, age, and maternal educational level were associated with greater vocabulary breadth and depth. Age at hearing aid fitting was not. Conclusions A major advantage of using LMM is that it allowed us to cope with missing data points while still accounting for variability within and across participants. Assessment of both vocabulary breadth and depth may be useful in identifying school-age CHH who are at risk of delays in language outcomes.