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Category: Study
Two ideas: one in gesture and the other in sign
Deaf students make gestures like hearing children when trying to explain math concepts - and these gestures are different from the ideas they expressed in sign language. Researchers at the University of Chicago watched 40 deaf children explain math problems and noted they used gestures, as do hearing children, when explaining a math problem. Psychologist Susan Goldin-Meadow, who led the study, says previous research involving hearing children shows that gestures that do not match speech indicate there are teaching opportunities for the student. She believes the new research indicates the same is true for deaf children, in that gestures that are not ASL-based reveal a teachable moment. Goldin-Meadow says, “The gestures ASL signers use tell us when they are ready to learn math." If this is the case, it reveals a weakness in having a hearing teacher convey concepts to a deaf student through an interpreter. The interpreter may be looking at the student and miss the teachers gestures and not relay the information conveyed in those gestures. The deaf student is then only getting a part of the information, the part conveyed through spoken English. Funding for the study came from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development and the National Science Foundation. Details are in the journal Cognition.
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Two ideas: one in gesture and the other in sign
Deaf students make gestures like hearing children when trying to explain math concepts - and these gestures are different from the ideas they expressed in sign language. Researchers at the University of Chicago watched 40 deaf children explain math problems and noted they used gestures, as do hearing children, when explaining a math problem. Psychologist Susan Goldin-Meadow, who led the study, says previous research involving hearing children shows that gestures that do not match speech indicate there are teaching opportunities for the student. She believes the new research indicates the same is true for deaf children, in that gestures that are not ASL-based reveal a teachable moment. Goldin-Meadow says, “The gestures ASL signers use tell us when they are ready to learn math." If this is the case, it reveals a weakness in having a hearing teacher convey concepts to a deaf student through an interpreter. The interpreter may be looking at the student and miss the teachers gestures and not relay the information conveyed in those gestures. The deaf student is then only getting a part of the information, the part conveyed through spoken English. Funding for the study came from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development and the National Science Foundation. Details are in the journal Cognition.
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The health of deaf people: communication breakdown
The deaf are twice as likely to have mental health problems as the general population, according to a report in the journal Lancet. At same time, the EU researchers say deaf people have a harder time getting mental health care - and when they do get it, the quality is lower. Deaf girls are twice as likely as hearing girls to report sexual abuse. For boys, the figure is three times greater. Deaf children, both boys and girls, are four times more likely to have mental health issues if their family does not understand them. The researchers recommend offering specialist services with professionals trained to directly communicate with deaf people and with sign-language interpreters. Read more about the findings in The Lancet here.
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Implants OK with Organ Transplants
Cochlear implants are safe for people who've had organ transplants, according to a new stduy. The drugs they are required to take for the organ transplant to prevent the immune system from attacking the organ can also leave these patients vulnerable to inner ear infection and hearing loss. But a new study out of Georgia Health Sciences University finds if the patient waits at least six months after the organ transplant and also takes the right antibiotic before and after the cochlear implant procedure, cochlear implant surgery can be safely performed. Details of the study are in the American Journal of Otolaryngology.
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Stem Cell Research uses Cord Blood
Texas researchers are moving forward with a study using umbilical cord blood stem cells to try to restore hearing loss. The study is being done by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School. Ten babies who have hearing loss will be followed for a year while they are treated using their own stored cord blood. Researchers hope to develop a new option that does not involve surgery for children with profound hearing loss that could restore normal hearing.
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Hearing Loss and Dementia
There is a link between hearing loss and Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Dr. Frank Lin and his team followed more than 600 people for nearly 12 years. The participants’ degree of hearing loss paralleled their risk of later developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. For each 10-decibel loss in hearing, the risk of dementia increased about 20 percent. In other words, the risk doubled with mild hearing loss, tripled with moderate hearing loss, and soared fivefold among those with severe hearing loss. Lin speculates that the brain is overstressed by trying to pick up what it is missing. By devoting more of its resources to hearing, the brain neglects other functions. Social isolation may contribute to a greater risk of age-related disorders as well, according to Dr. Lin. The unanswered question from his research is whether improved hearing through the use of cochlear implants and hearing aids, or improved communication through learning sign language, reverses or delays the development of dementia. Details of the study are in the Archives of Neurology.Read More at DeafNewsToday.com
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Teen Hearing Risk Study
A quarter of teens are running the risk of early hearing loss. That's the finding of researchers at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Medical Faculty. The blame falls on music played at high levels through ear phones. Youth are likely to start seeing diminished hearing during their 30s. The researchers surveyed teens and combined their typical listening habits in terms of exposure and volume. Details are published in the International Journal of Audiology.
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Lead Exposure
Exposure to lead could lead to hearing loss. That's the finding of a new study checking the level of lead in the blood of a group of teenagers. Overall, a fifth of the teens had some hearing loss. The teens with the most lead in their blood were more likely to have hearing loss. Nearly a third of the teens with high levels of lead did not pass the hearing exam, while less than a fifth of those while low lead exposure failed the hearing test. While the study suggests a correlation between hearing loss and lead exposure, the study did not show whether one causes the other. The researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston say the level of what is considered safe exposure to lead should be lowered. Details of the studay are in the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
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Study of Implant Failures for Children
The failure rate of cochlear implants given to children is low. That's the finding of a study detailed this month's issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery. Researcher at the the University of Toronto took a look at the medical history of 738 children who were provided 971 devices. 34 had to undergo corrective surgery with a reimplantation rate of about three percent. The average time of failure was about 5 years after the surgery. A fifth of the children who had implant failure also had meningitis before the initial implantation. One of the study authors has a financial interest in Cochlear Americas. Read more here.
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