[Speech perception in noise with and without FM technology]

In the presence of a (central) auditory processing disorder [(C)APD] central hearing processes are disturbed, leading to impaired speech perception in noise. Poor acoustics in educational institutions exacerbates the problem. In children affected by (C)APD this can result in impaired development of language, reading and writing acquisition as well as other skills.

A total of 66 children aged 6-11 years completed the Oldenburg sentence test in noise (OlSa) with and without an FM system. Children with normal OlSa test results formed the control group (group 1), while group 2a comprised children with an unremarkable re-test result and group 2b comprised children who produced abnormal results even in the re-test.

All children achieved improved speech intelligibility using the FM system. The greatest difference between results with and without FM system was seen in group 2b (9.53 dB S/N). Group 1 achieved an improvement of 8.86 dB S/N and group 2a 7.89 dB S/N.

Children with detected auditory selection problems benefit most from the use of an FM system for improved speech understanding. This should be borne in mind in the diagnosis and therapy of these children.