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Published on: October 3, 2018
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Masked-Speech Recognition and Self-Reported Functional Listening in Autistic Young Adults.
Peter A Wasiuk1, Barbara A Cook1, Julia R Irwin2
1Department of Communication Disorders, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven.
Summary
Autistic adults have significant difficulties with speech-in-speech recognition, impacting daily listening and increasing fatigue. These challenges are linked to autism characteristics and social communication experiences.
Area of Science:
- Audiology
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Autistic adults often report challenges with speech comprehension in noisy environments.
- Limited research exists on masked-speech recognition in autistic adults, especially with informational masking.
- Understanding these listening difficulties is crucial for social communication and participation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize speech-in-speech and speech-in-noise recognition in autistic young adults.
- To evaluate self-reported functional listening abilities and listening-related fatigue.
- To explore the relationship between autism characteristics and listening challenges.
Main Methods:
- Compared speech recognition in autistic (n=20) and non-autistic (n=20) young adults with normal hearing.
- Measured speech reception thresholds in two-talker speech and speech-shaped noise.
- Assessed functional listening, fatigue, and autism characteristics using validated questionnaires.
Main Results:
- Autistic adults showed significantly poorer speech-in-speech recognition compared to controls.
- No group differences were found in speech-in-noise recognition.
- Autistic participants reported higher functional listening difficulties and fatigue, predicted by autism characteristics.
Conclusions:
- Autistic young adults exhibit objective speech-in-speech recognition deficits correlating with daily listening challenges.
- Autism characteristics predict functional listening abilities in both autistic and non-autistic individuals.
- These speech-in-speech difficulties may exacerbate social communication challenges for autistic adults.
