Speech recognition in recurrent otitis media: results in a set of identical twins

Performance-intensity functions for Pediatric Speech Intelligibility Test (PSI) word and sentence materials presented in competition were obtained for a set of identical female twins, aged 4 years, 2 months. Twin B had a medical history significant for recurrent otitis media, while Twin A had only one reported occurrence of the disease. Twin A yielded normal functions for both word and sentence materials. Twin B, however, yielded an essentially normal function for sentences, but the function for monosyllabic words was grossly depressed. These findings support the hypothesis that transient conductive hearing loss and auditory deprivation resulting from recurrent otitis media can affect the processing of phonetic information essential to the development of word recognition skills.