Center for Pediatric Hearing Research

The House Institute Foundation’s Center for Pediatric Hearing Research conducts research on the effects of childhood hearing loss on long-term development. We are especially interested in improving functional communication skills that support real-world outcomes among children and adolescents with hearing loss.

About Pediatric Hearing Health

Hearing loss is a condition that affects individuals of all ages, including an estimated 3-5% of children and adolescents in the United States. While hearing aids and cochlear implants can improve a child’s hearing and access to speech, these devices are not always available to children who may need them due to various barriers, including cost, absence of accessible care, and lack of information about treatment options. Furthermore, even well-programmed hearing devices that are fitted early are not able to restore typical hearing for children with hearing loss. Because hearing plays an important role in spoken language development, children with hearing loss who do and do not use hearing devices are at risk for difficulties in certain aspects of everyday communication.

Areas of Research

Hearing Loss and Challenging Listening Conditions

Ongoing studies at the Center examine how hearing loss affects children’s ability to use and understand speech under challenging conditions. Current areas of interest include speech recognition in background noise, listening-related fatigue, and spoken emotion communication. Researchers at the Center also use eye-tracking technology to characterize the efficiency with which children process speech under various listening conditions. Findings from these studies will help to identify specific communication skills that can be particularly difficult for children with hearing loss, as well as how audiologic, language, and educational interventions may support the development of these skills.

Longitudinal Trends in Auditory Development

Another focus of the Center for Pediatric Hearing Health Research is to identify longitudinal trends in auditory development among children with hearing loss. In partnership with clinicians at the House Children’s Hearing Center, our researchers are compiling standardized clinical data to better characterize the long-term effects of clinical interventions, family factors, and individual child characteristics on communication outcomes.