Infant Discrimination and Early Acquisition of Language – the IDEAL study

Project Details

Despite early detection of hearing loss and provision of amplification, many children exhibit delays in language during preschool years. Amplification for a child aims to increase audibility, which can be verified using standard audiological procedures. However, there is currently no clinical tool to check that the child can extract information from the audible signal for discrimination – an essential skill that underpins spoken language development in typically developing children.  This project aims to 1) develop objective and behavioural tools for assessing early auditory discrimination in infants; and 2) determine the relationship between early discrimination and language development at 3 years of age. The findings will lead to novel clinical tools for assessing auditory discrimination in infants and new evidence-based clinical guidelines for best practice management of children with hearing loss after diagnosis.

Researchers

  • Donella Chisari, Tutor (PhD Candidate)
  • Julien Zanin, Tutor (PhD Candidate)

    • Collaborators

    • National Acoustics Laboratories
    • Australian Hearing

    Funding

    National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) project grant

    Research Group

    Identification and Management of Hearing Disorders


    Faculty Research Themes

    Neuroscience


    Key Contact

    For further information about this research, please contact the research group leader.

    Department / Centre

    Audiology and Speech Pathology

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