Remote Microphone Systems Can Improve Listening-in-Noise Accuracy and Listening Effort for Youth With Autism.
Jacob I Feldman, Emily Thompson, Hilary Davis and 5 others
PMID 35030553WHAT IT FOUND
Youth with autism listened more accurately to words, sentences and stories when using a remote microphone.
Average listening effort did not change, but effort decreased for those with higher nonverbal IQ and language scores.
Key findings
01Remote microphone use improved accuracy for words (93.0% with the system and 73.2% without), sentences (78.0% with and 26.5% without) and stories (61.3% with and 34.0% without), but not for syllables (94.4% with and 79.8% without).
02Average listening effort, measured as response time to a visual probe, did not differ between remote microphone use and no remote microphone use.
03Remote microphone use increased response times when nonverbal IQ was below 71.10 and language scores were below 81.02, and decreased response times when nonverbal IQ was above 103.85 and language scores were above 125.13.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study tested short-term use in a laboratory, not use over a school day or school year. Participants had normal hearing, confirmed autism diagnoses and could complete long behavioral tasks, so results may not apply to younger children or those who could not complete the tasks. Only one remote microphone configuration was tested: a right-ear receiver with an occluding foam tip. Missing data were imputed, although no participant was lost for noncompliance. The authors did not establish why accuracy improved or why effort changed for some participants.
Declared interests
The publication metadata lists research support from NIH extramural, non-U.S. government and U.S. government non-PHS sources. The supplied article text does not give an author conflicts-of-interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that remote microphone use always reduces listening effort for youth with autism. Average response time did not change, and for some youth with lower nonverbal IQ and language scores it increased.