Speech Perception Testing - The Challenge of Noise

We recently went for Lily's six-month CI tune up with her audiologist.  The two hour appointment goes quickly, however this time we were able to do some speech perception testing and examine what happens to Lily's listening abilities when she uses the FM system.

HINT Sentences in quiet:  97%

HINT Sentences in noise (+5 dB signal-to-noise ratio): 71%

HINT sentence materials are at about a 1^st or 2^nd grade reading level, so one might compare her performance on this test to listening to material that is routine or familiar.  A signal-to-noise ratio of +5 dB is not especially uncommon in a typical classroom and noise levels can often be even higher than this.

AZ Bio Sentences in quiet:  84%

AZ Bio Sentences in noise (+5 dB signal-to-noise ratio):  42%

AZ Bio Sentences in noise (+5 dB signal-to-noise ratio) with FM in use:  91%

AZ Bio sentence materials are at about a 6^th grade reading level according to some lectures.  It would be appropriate to use Lily’s performance on this as analogous to listening to material that is unfamiliar or that is new information/vocabulary.

We continue to search for better technology to help Lily hear in noise, especially when it is in a multi-talker environment like the lunchroom or during small group discussion.