How well preschoolers who are deaf or hard of hearing access spoken language in everyday life
Assessing Access to Language in the Real-World and Neural Language Processing in Preschoolers who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
This project measures how background noise and caregiver talk shape language access and brain responses in preschoolers who are deaf or hard of hearing compared with children who have typical hearing.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of South Florida NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Tampa, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11456543 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You and your child may be invited to join a group of about 40 preschool children who are deaf or hard of hearing and an age-matched group with typical hearing. The team will create a Speech Accessibility Index (SAI) that quantifies how much spoken language a child can access in real-world settings using recordings and related measures. Children will also do brief lab listening tasks while researchers record brain activity (looking at alpha power) to see how the brain copes with sentences in background noise. The study will compare SAI scores, brain measures, and language skills to learn which children face the highest risk for language delays.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are preschool-aged children (about 1–5 years old) who are deaf or hard of hearing and are developing spoken language, with a separate group of age-matched children with typical hearing for comparison.
Not a fit: Children who communicate primarily via sign language, infants outside the preschool age range, or adults are not the intended participants and would be unlikely to receive direct benefit from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help identify which children are most at risk for language delays and guide earlier, targeted hearing and language supports.
How similar studies have performed: Prior research has linked caregiver talk and environmental noise to language outcomes and used EEG measures of listening effort, but the Speech Accessibility Index is a new tool being tested here.
Where this research is happening
Tampa, United States
- University of South Florida — Tampa, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Benitez-Barrera, Carlos R — University of South Florida
- Study coordinator: Benitez-Barrera, Carlos R
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.