Research Overview

Research in the Listening and Language in Children (LiLaC) Lab focuses on the effects of hearing loss on listening and language skills in school-age children with hearing aids and cochlear implants. The overarching goals of this research are to improve real-world functional outcomes and inform intervention approaches for children with hearing loss. In the LiLaC Lab, we take several approaches to understanding how children with hearing loss process speech, especially under challenging listening conditions. Using eye-tracking technology, we investigate the time course of children’s real-time lexical and semantic activation during spoken word recognition. This allows us to better understand how children with hearing loss utilize specific cognitive processes to understand spoken language. We also use clinical audiologic and language assessments to examine how factors such as auditory access and vocabulary support real-world listening skills. Finally, we are interested in understanding how children’s hearing history and auditory environment influence their ability to effectively learn, process, and understand spoken language. Taken together, our research draws from basic psycholinguistic research methods to address important clinical questions in pediatric audiology.

Current projects:

Using Eye-Tracking to Assess Real-Time Spoken Language Processing in Children

A study examining how different types of background noise affect the language processing efficiency of school-age children with hearing aids and children with normal hearing.

Children with and without hearing loss can struggle to understand speech in noisy environments, which may be due in part to negative effects of auditory maskers (i.e., background noise) on children’s speech processing efficiency. In this project, we are characterizing the development of children’s real-time processing efficiency while listening to speech in different types of noise, as well as comparing these processes in children with normal hearing and children with hearing aids. Findings will inform recommendations for classroom noise management, improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying listening and spoken language difficulties in children with hearing aids, and support the development of clinical interventions supporting complex listening skills in children with hearing loss. 

Funding Source: National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIH/NIDCD)

Longitudinal Pediatric Hearing Health Study

A longitudinal study examining a range of outcomes among a diverse group of children and adolescents with hearing loss.

Technology and early intervention for children with hearing loss have improved tremendously in recent decades. However, we continue to see large variability in children’s long-term outcomes. In this longitudinal study, we are examining outcomes related to speech perception, language, listening-related fatigue, mental health, and quality of life among children and adolescents who are deaf or hard of hearing. Our goal is to identify audiologic, educational, and family- and child-specific factors that support improved outcomes. By including a large and diverse group of children, including children with additional disabilities, children who speak Spanish, and children with hearing loss in only one ear, we will ensure that our findings are relevant to a broad range of children. 

Funding Source: House Institute Foundation

Characterizing the Home Auditory Environments of Children with Hearing Loss

A study that combines in-lab and at-home measurements to better understand how well children with hearing loss can access spoken language at home

Children with hearing loss need consistent access to speech to effectively develop spoken language. When there is a lot of noise, it can be difficult for children with hearing loss to hear and understand speech. In this study, we are using audio recorders that analyze how much speech and noise children are exposed to in order to characterize children’s listening environments at home. We are particularly interested in how social, cultural, and linguistic factors are related to spoken language access for children with hearing loss. The results will support clinicians in providing families more individualized recommendations about how to support their children’s spoken language development at home.

Funding Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation