Temporal processes assessment in individuals with hearing disorder

• Grant number: 06/00035-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: May 01, 2006
• End date: April 30, 2008
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Maria Cecilia Martinelli
• Grantee: Maria Cecilia Martinelli
• Host Institution: Departamento de Fonoaudiologia. Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The present study has the objective to analyze the processes of discrimination and temporal ordination based on behavioral measures, in a group formed by normal children and children with learning disabilities, and another group formed by children with sensorineural hearing impairment of a moderate degree. A total of seventy children will be evaluated, thirty with normal hearing ability, of low risk for learning alteration, that is, presenting development and learning within normal limits (Group I); twenty normal hearing children with learning disabilities (Group II) and twenty children with sensorineural hearing impairment of a moderate degree (Group III). The age range of the children is from 9 to 15. In Group I, the test to be applied are: Repetition test proposed by Tallal (Tallal & Piercy, 1973, 1974, 1975); Gap Detection Randomized Test (Keith, 2001), and Frequency and Duration Pattern Test (Musiek, 1994); in Group II, the test to be applied is the Repetition Test proposed by Tallal; in Group III, Gap Detection Randomized Test (Keith, 2001) and the Frequency and Duration Pattern Test (Musiek, 1994) will be applied. Data collected will be analyzed, submitted to statistical analysis and discussed in order to search for a better comprehension of the neurophysiological processes subjacent to normal hearing individuals with or without hearing impairment and to individuals with sensorineural hearing loss of a moderate degree, besides analyzing the answers obtained and searching for a better diagnostic efficiency and speech language therapy in such kind of disorder. (AU)