Electrophysiological Measures of Listening-in-Noise With and Without Remote Microphone System Use in Autistic and Non-Autistic Youth.

The autistic and non-autistic groups were not matched: the non-autistic group had higher language ability and higher nonverbal cognitive ability. The analyzed sample was 25 autistic youth and 22 non-autistic youth, and two additional autistic participants were excluded for poor EEG signal quality. The autistic group had no intellectual disability and mostly average or above-average language skills, so findings may not apply to all autistic youth. Participants had to tolerate EEG sensors and the remote microphone, and the sample was fairly homogeneous in race and ethnicity. Few females were recruited, so sex differences could not be examined. Testing used a single loudspeaker in a controlled lab, not a dynamic classroom with multiple speakers, movement, and ambient sounds. The remote microphone was used with only one ear-level receiver; a bilateral setup might have had a stronger effect.

The article is marked as NIH extramural research support. The study was conducted independently of Sonova AG, which made no contribution to design, data collection, analysis, or write-up. Several authors are employed by a department that trains clinicians to use remote microphone systems and uses them in outpatient clinics. One author serves as Chair of the Phonak Pediatric Research Advisory Board.

Do not read the accuracy benefit as evidence that remote microphone systems make listening in noise fast or effortless. Reaction time did not improve beyond babble noise, cortical responses remained delayed, and the sample was mostly verbally able autistic youth without intellectual disability.