Subject: A boy with fluctuating hearing loss From: Al Bregman <al.bregman(at)MCGILL.CA> Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 19:35:46 -0400Dear list, Recently, a woman named Carolyn Knox emailed me about her son who suffers from a fluctuating hearing loss. I couldn't answer her questions. If any of you can help, I'd appreciate contacting her directly with a copy to me. Her main concern is about her son's ability to understand in a noisy classroom. Her email address is: "carolyn knox" <cubby(at)springnet1.com> I have inserted, below, a copy of our correspondence. Thanks to any who can help. - Al ------------------------------------------------- Albert S. Bregman, Emeritus Professor Dept of Psychology, McGill University 1205 Docteur Penfield Avenue Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 1B1 Office: Phone: +1 (514) 398-6103 Fax: +1 (514) 398-4896 Home phone & Fax: +1 (514) 484-2592 Email: al.bregman(at)mcgill.ca ------------------------------------------------- Dr. Bregman, My eight year old son has fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss. It is progressive and fluctuates differently in each ear. I am interested in how this combined with reverberation and ambient noise (making speech sound slurred) would impact his ability to sequence and interpret speech and auditory streams. Is there any research in this area? on 4/1/02 1:48 PM, Al Bregman at bregman(at)hebb.psych.mcgill.ca wrote: > Before trying, I'd like to ask some questions. You mentioned > that your son has fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss, that is > independent at the two ears. How fast are these fluctuations? > -- a few per second? > -- a few per minute? > -- a few per hour? > -- a few per day or longer? > > Second, what form do the fluctuations take at the above rate: > -- a reduced loudness, but some sound is still audible at that > ear? > -- a complete cut-off of hearing during some part of the > fluctuation? > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "carolyn knox" <cubby(at)springnet1.com> > To: <bregman(at)hebb.psych.mcgill.ca> > Sent: 30-Mar-02 12:13 PM > Subject: Speech recognition and auditory processing Dear Dr. Bregman, Thank you for your kind reply. The most difficult part, aside from thinking about the future, is working with our School District, and trying to understand how his speech recognition is impacted by noise, reverberation, the fluctuations, time, and language of peers. He is in a gifted classroom of 25 children, all highly verbal. When Cubby was diagnosed at 5, he went from 20 dB hearing loss at 500 Hz to 60 dB at 2000. Now he goes from (20-60) at 500, 1000, to 90 at 8000. The sensorineural loss looks like a presbycusis slope. His fluctuations affect the 500 Hz to 1000 range and change from 20 to 60dB depending on the day. In the last year the entire curve has been gradually moving down. The fluctuations vary, but I do not know about second to second. I only screen in the morning and sometimes at night. They do vary within a day and sometimes stay the same for a week, but rarely more than that...with your question, I will test more frequently to get a better measure. He does describe the quality of sound in his left ear as being clearer than his right ear. He describes speech as more distorted with mumbling for his right ear. They fluctuate differently, and although his right ear is worse, they are within 20 dB of each other. He has not yet experienced a complete cut off of hearing. In the 500 to 1000 range he has only dropped to 60 dB, but the way things are going I fully expect sometime they may do this. One of his class mates with a CI experienced deaf episodes last year. CT scans indicated a normal cochlea. I called Auditech and asked if they had a multitalker tape with childrens voices. We are going to make some tapes of childrens voices in a classroom and school cafeteria with a digital camera. At his age, it seems that background noise with childrens voices is more indicative of auditory distraction in his classroom. This is all so complicated! Auditory perception is fascinating... Gratefully, Carolyn Knox,M.A. . "carolyn knox" <cubby(at)springnet1.com>