Normalization and feasibility of speech understanding tests for Dutch speaking toddlers

As a result of newborn hearing screening programs, hearing impairment is often identified early in life and proper intervention (hearing aids, cochlear implant) will enable children to develop expressive and receptive skills as young as possible. The goals of this study are to obtain normative data on speech tests that are suitable for evaluation of young hearing-impaired Dutch speaking children in Flanders and the Netherlands and to determine the youngest age at which these tests are feasible. Normative data are obtained with 143 normal-hearing children with normal cognitive and language development for the Göttinger I (3-4 years) and Göttinger II (5-6 years). It is shown that one performance intensity curve can describe both tests. Moreover, a subsequent study with 35 normal-hearing children showed that the Göttinger I can also be administered to children with normal cognitive and language development younger than three years of age. In addition, the feasibility of two analytical tests was examined. These tests were designed to obtain information on the transmission of spectral and temporal speech cues by the hearing aid or cochlear implant in children as young as 212 years of age.