Panasonic WX-LAK12 Classroom Sound Field Amplification

Sound Field Amplification: An Innovative

Educational Intervention for Mainstreamed

Learning Disabled Students

(Summary)

F.E. Glassford, M.S., Helen Ray, Lewis S. Sarff, Ph.D.

The Directive Teacher, pp. 18-20

Summer/Fall 1984

Otitis Media (OM) typically causes a conductive hearing loss of 26 dB and may

persist from a few days to indefinitely. Students with OM are more academically

at risk due to muffled and inconsistent verbal signals in poor acoustically

designed classrooms and noisy environments. Due to high classroom noise

levels (40 to 50 dB), plural endings, low energy sounds and voiceless

consonants are masked.

18 research studies focused on the prevalence of OM in learning disability (LD)

students.

• OM is reported to be twice as common in learning disability (LD) population.

• One in four elementary LD students experience OM.

• Medical management helps to negate the detrimental effects of OM

• Children with OM may be at risk for delays in auditory, language and academic

skills

Children with OM suffer from:

• Depressed receptive abilities

• Omission of low intensity words in conversational speech

• Lack of rehearsed phrases

• Failure to respond to low intensity sounds

• Diffi culty with syntax, auditory processing and abstract reasoning

• Poor expressive speech

Project MARRS studied the incidence and impact of sound field amplification on

students with minimal hearing loss. The study included 1000 students ranging

Continued….