Harald A. Euler

Background: People with intellectual disabilities often have undetected hearing loss. Methods: In this prospective observational study featuring 110 adults with intellectual disabilities, hearing evaluations based on objective hearing threshold estimation using distortion‐product otoacoustic emission growth functions (DPOAEgfs) were performed in a sheltered workshop. Results were compared with thresholds obtained by conventional subjective pure‐tone audiometry (cPTA) and the adaptive self‐test PTA Multiple‐Choice‐Auditory‐Graphical‐Interactive‐Check (MAGIC). Results: The differences between the lowest thresholds obtained by cPTA and MAGIC for the frequencies 1, 2, 4 and 6 kHz (LPTATs) and the estimated distortion‐product thresholds (EDPTs) were calculated. Four hundred twenty‐seven of 880 (48.5%) pairs of measurements did not differ by any more than 5 dB. With LPTATs as reference criterion, for a favourable four‐frequency average over 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 kHz with a cutoff of 20 dB HL, the sensitivity of the EDPTs was 92% and the specificity 62%; a cutoff of 30 dB HL increased the respective values to 98% and 77%. Conclusions: DPOAEgfs are acceptable for estimating hearing thresholds in individuals with intellectual disability who may have limitations in performing conventional audiometry.

Phonological developmental speech sound disorders (pDSSD) in childhood are often associated with later difficulties in literacy acquisition. The present study is a follow-up of the randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the effectiveness of PhonoSens, a treatment for pDSSD that focuses on improving auditory self-monitoring skills and categorial perception of phoneme contrasts, which could have a positive impact on later spelling development. Our study examines the spelling abilities of 26 German-speaking children (15 girls, 11 boys; mean age 10.1 years, range 9.3–11.2 years) 3–6 years after their successful completion of the PhonoSens treatment. Spelling assessment revealed that only 3 out of 26 participants developed a spelling disorder. In the overall population of fourth-graders, one in five children showed a spelling deficit; in another study of elementary school children, with resolved pDSSD, 18 of 32 children had a spelling deficit. Thus, the applied pDSSD treatment method appears to be associated with positive spelling development. Multiple regression analysis revealed that among the potentially predictive factors for German-speaking children with resolved pDSSD to develop later spelling difficulties, parental educational level and family risk for developmental language disorder (DLD) had an impact on children’s spelling abilities; gender and the child’s phonological memory had not.

There is substantial evidence that newborn hearing screening (NHS) reduces the negative sequelae of permanent childhood hearing loss (PCHL) if performed in programs that aim to screen all newborns in a region or nation (often referred to as Universal Newborn Hearing Screening or UNHS). The World Health Organization (WHO) has called in two resolutions for the implementation of such programs and for the collection of large-scale data. To assess the global status of NHS programs we surveyed individuals potentially involved with newborn and infant hearing screening (NIHS) in 196 countries/territories (in the following text referred to as countries). Replies were returned from 158 countries. The results indicated that 38% of the world’s newborns and infants had no or minimal hearing screening and 33% screened at least 85% of the babies (hereafter referred to as UNHS). Hearing screening programs varied considerably in quality, data acquisition, and accessibility of services for children with PCHL. In this article, we summarize the main results of the survey in the context of several recent WHO publications, particularly the World Report on Hearing, which defined advances in the implementation of NHS programs in the Member States as one of three key indicators of worldwide progress in ear and hearing care (EHC).

Background: The treatment of functional speech sound disorders (SSDs) in children is often lengthy, ill-defined, and without satisfactory evidence of success; effectiveness studies on SSDs are rare. This randomized controlled trial evaluates the effectiveness of the integrated SSD treatment program PhonoSens, which focuses on integrating phonological and phonetic processing according to the Integrated Psycholinguistic Model of Speech Processing (IPMSP). Methods: Thirty-two German-speaking children aged from 3.5 to 5.5 years (median 4.6) with functional SSD were randomly assigned to a treatment or a wait-list control group with 16 children each. All children in the treatment group and, after an average waiting period of 6 months, 12 children in the control group underwent PhonoSens treatment. Results: The treatment group showed more percent correct consonants (PCC) and a greater reduction in phonological processes after 15 therapy sessions than the wait-list control group, both with large effect sizes (Cohen’s d = 0.89 and 1.04). All 28 children treated achieved normal phonological abilities: 21 before entering school and 7 during first grade. The average number of treatment sessions was 28; the average treatment duration was 11.5 months. Conclusion: IPMSP-aligned therapy is effective in the treatment of SSD and is well adaptable for languages other than German.

Human gender differences tend to be largest in behaviors of high reproductive relevance, that is, sexual and parenting behavior. Such differences show up best in biologically meaningful configurations of specific behaviors rather than in coarse categories. Paternal involvement is thus expressed in aspects and optima which differ from those of maternal involvement. A case in point is sensitivity in its effect on secure attachment, with paternal behavior to be measured by a yardstick different from maternal behavior. Secure father-child attachment may be fostered by optimal levels of paternal activation/stimulation which are different from maternal optima. Paternal action preferences lead to preferences for rough play, which may be especially relevant to the socialization of male offspring. Moreover, fathers—unlike mothers—may perceive their paternal effort as mating effort. The study of father-child attachment—and especially its differences from mother-child attachment—can benefit from considering evolved sex differences in parental behavior.