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Speech Perception Assessment and Training System

Award Information
Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Branch: National Institutes of Health
Contract: 1R43DC006338-01
Agency Tracking Number: DC006338
Amount: $99,690.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: N/A
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 2003
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS TECHNLGY 501 N MORTON ST, STE 215
BLOOMINGTON, IN 47404
United States
DUNS: N/A
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 JAMES MILLER
 (812) 336-1766
 JDMILLER@COMDISTEC.COM
Business Contact
 DANIEL MAKI
Phone: (812) 336-1766
Email: MAKI@INDIANA.EDU
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project will develop a multimedia speech perception assessment and training system designed to improve the speech perception skills of adult hearing-aid users. It is estimated that one in three adults will eventually suffer hearing loss. As the population of the US ages, more and more people will be affected. The key assumption underlying the development of the system is that carefully structured auditory training can improve the speech perception abilities of people who have been fitted with and grown accustomed to using hearing aids. In phase I a training study will be conducted in which five participants will be assessed for their ability to identify English consonants using only acoustic cues. Participants will then undergo intensive training to improve their perception skills on eight of the consonants shown to be difficult. A posttraining assessment will be conducted to evaluate the success of the training method. If the Phase I study shows that auditory training can indeed improve speech perceptions skills for this population, these methods along with methods for training designed to optimize the use of the linguistic and pragmatic redundancy inherent in real-world communication will be incorporated into the Phase II training system.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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