Deaf Child aged 2-5 years old? Your help may be needed..

From an email to PDDCS from UCL..

Researchers at the UCL Ear Institute would like to invite families with a hearing-impaired child to take part in a research study. If your child is aged between 2 and 5 years, and uses either two acoustic hearing aids or two cochlear implants, we would like to hear from you.

Why is the study necessary?

It can be difficult for parents and clinicians to decide whether a hearing-impaired child should receive hearing aids or cochlear implants. The decision is important because it is likely to affect a child's functioning at home and in school.

What is the aim of the study?

The study will compare the listening and language skills of children with two hearing aids and children with two cochlear implants. The results will be used to develop criteria to help decide whether newly-diagnosed children are likely to gain the most benefit from hearing aids or cochlear implants. The criteria will be based on the degree of hearing loss. Similar studies were conducted several years ago with children who used only one implant. The results of this study will provide up-to-date information that will be useful to parents, clinicians, and policy makers. The study is funded by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People.

What does the study involve?

If you choose to take part, we will invite you and your child to visit the UCL Ear Institute, which is near King’s Cross station in London. We shall ask you to visit us a number of times: between two and four visits over the course of a year. During the visits, we will ask your child to take part in some tests of listening and language skills. We shall ask you to complete some questionnaires.  We will send you a report describing the results of the assessments of your child and we will pay you an inconvenience allowance for each visit.

How do I find out more information?

Please contact Rosemary Lovett at the UCL Ear Institute. She can be reached by telephone (020 7679 8899), email (r.lovett@ucl.ac.uk), or post (UCL Ear Institute, 332-336 Gray’s Inn Road, London, WC1X 8EE). Thank you!