Using a new type of “vocal signature” technology that focuses on sound patterns rather than words in child vocalizations and baby talk, researchers in the US say they have proved in principle that it is possible to screen for autism spectrum disorders in young children; they also hope the new method will greatly enhance the study of language development because it…
Under an agreement announced by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing will be provided equal access to a nursing and rehabilitation facility in New York State and will be provided interpretation services when necessary for effective communication…
Researchers have identified a gene mutation that causes a rare form of hearing loss known as auditory neuropathy, according to U-M Medical School scientists. In the study published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, U-M’s Marci Lesperance, M.D., and Margit Burmeister, Ph.D…
It’s safe to say that cilia, the hairlike appendages jutting out from the smooth surfaces of most mammalian cells, have long been misunderstood - underestimated, even. Not to be confused with their whiplike cousins flagella, which propel sperm, one type of cilia has been known to serve as microscopic conveyor belts. (Picture cilia reaching up like concertgoers supporting a crowd-surfer…
Research funded by hearing loss charity RNID has discovered a drug which repairs hearing after damage caused by loud noise. Researchers at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, showed that exposure to loud noise led to hearing loss which was permanent if left untreated. If treated with a compound called ‘ADAC’ after noise damage, hearing recovered substantially…
More electrodes and a thinner, more flexible wire inserted further into the inner ear could improve conventional cochlear implants, a team of Medical College of Georgia and Georgia Institute of Technology researchers say. Candidates for cochlear implants - an estimated million in the United States alone - include children and adults with profound deafness in both ears…
Researchers from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, have discovered that a potent new drug restores hearing after noise-induced hearing loss in rats. The landmark discovery found that injection of an agent called ‘ADAC’, activates adenosine receptors in cochlear tissues, resulting in recovery of hearing function…
Children who are being treated for hearing loss with cochlear implants can safely have ear tubes installed to help clear up infections, say researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)…
About 40 million people in the U.S. today suffer from tinnitus, an irritating and sometimes debilitating auditory disorder in which a person “hears” sounds, such as ringing, that don’t actually exist…
The Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (CASLPA) commends the Government of Canada on the recent introduction of Bill C-36, the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA). C-36 builds on the efforts of similar legislation from the last session of parliament in updating Canada’s consumer and product safety legislation…