The Assistive Benefits of Remote Microphone Technology for Normal Hearing Children With Listening Difficulties

Abstract

Objectives: Children often present with listening difficulties (LiD) but with normal sound detection thresholds. These children are susceptible to learning challenges, and struggle with the suboptimal acoustics of standard classrooms. Remote microphone technology (RMT) is one way to improve the listening environment. The aim of this study was to determine the assistive potential of RMT for speech identification and attention skills in children with LiD, and to investigate whether the benefits obtained by these children were greater than for those with no listening concerns. Design: A total of 28 children with LiD and 10 control participants with no listening concerns aged 6 to 12 years were included in this study. Children attended two laboratory-based testing sessions, where their speech intelligibility and attention skills were behaviorally assessed with and without the use of RMT. Results: There were significant improvements in speech identification and attention skills when RMT was used. For the LiD group, use of the devices improved speech intelligibility to being comparable or better than control abilities without RMT. Auditory attention scores also improved from being poorer than controls without RMT to comparable to control performance with device assistance. Conclusions: Use of RMT was found to have a positive effect on both speech intelligibility and attention. RMT should be considered a viable option for addressing common behavioral symptoms of LiD, including for the many children that present with concerns of inattentiveness.

Remediation of Perceptual Deficits in Progressive Auditory Neuropathy: A Case Study

“…One possibility is that attention-linked processes at the level of the auditory cortex may be involved. There is increasing evidence of the strengthening of auditory attention skills in children following a period of remote microphone use [31,32]. Binaural interaction occurs in the lower brainstem, but spatial listening is thought to include a top-down hierarchical prediction at the cortical level, which is compared to the incoming signal.…”

Multidisciplinary clinical assessment and interventions for childhood listening difficulty and auditory processing disorder: Relation between research findings and clinical practice

“…Interventions for LiD in children include wireless, remote microphone hearing devices (Johnston et al, 2009;Lemos, 2009;Shiels et al, 2023), aural rehabilitation (Boothroyd, 2007), usually in the form of computer game-based training (e.g. Fast ForWord; Strong et al, 2011), "metacognitive training" (Chermak & Musiek, 2013), classroom accommodations (DeBonis, 2015, and other listening exercises including dichotic listening, language and sound discrimination training (Fey et al, 2011;Lotfi Y, 2016;Moncrieff et al, 2017;Sharma et al, 2012).…”

“…Recently, Shiels et al (2023) provided strong evidence for the effectiveness of remote microphone devices in aiding LiD. To date, however, no intervention method has seen general acceptance.…”

“…A long-standing issue is that, due to lack of a solid theoretical basis, established physiological mechanisms, or consensus on the definition of APD, appropriate diagnostic testing, and intervention cannot be rationalized (Papesh et al, 2023; Vermiglio, 2014). An alternative or umbrella term for APD, “listening difficulties” (LiD), focuses on symptoms commonly reported by children and their caregivers or adults who present at audiology clinics, but have clinically normal audiograms (Barry & Moore, 2021; Dillon & Cameron, 2021; Petley et al, 2021; Shiels et al, 2023). This term, LiD, recognizes that the underlying causes are multifactorial and not necessarily due to auditory system dysfunction.…”

“…A gold-standard, blinded control method, and independently developed self- and caregiver-report questionnaires, suggested in subsequent studies that more generalized aspects of listening may also be improved (Cameron et al, 2012; Cameron et al, 2015). Recently, Shiels et al (2023) provided strong evidence for the effectiveness of remote microphone devices in aiding LiD. To date, however, no intervention method has seen general acceptance.…”