Analysis of Hearing Ability and Articulation in Special Classes for Hearing Impaired Children

Abstract

Kyoto city has two elementary schools and one junior high school for hearing impaired children. They have about 70 children in every year. We have examined hearing ability and articulation of these children once a year, since 1985.
In the present study, we showed the result of these examinations of articulation, and the statistical analysis of their hearing, speech intelligibility and hearing ability in these children.
The results obtained were as follows:
1) The hearing levels of the subjects without and with a hearing aid were 93.7dBHL and 57.6dBHL respectively on the average.
2) The speech intelligibility of them was 37% on the average, which was influenced by the hearing level without hearing aid.
3) The hearing ability increased when they were instructed by showing picture cards.
4) Articulation of the children in special classes for hearing impaired are not established, and it can be changed with ease.
5) The children who attend mainstreamed kindergardens showed higher avarage in speech intelligibility than inexperienced children.