Speech Perception and Phonological Characteristics of the Children With Episodes of Recurrent Otitis Media With Effusion

Sim, Hyun Sub; Song, Yun Kyung; Jin, Sung Min

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2005;10(2): 80-100.

Hyun Sub Sim^` , Yun Kyung Song^` , and Sung Min Jin^`

심현섭(Hyun Sub Sim)| 송윤경(Yun Kyung Song)| 진성민(Sung Min Jin)

ABSTRACT

It has been believed that a child's experience of recurrent otitis media with effusion(OME) before the age of 3 may could affect their speech development. The current study aimed to examine whether the changes in hearing due to middle ear fluid have any long-term effects on the development of speech. For this purpose, a group of 16 5-year-old children who had suffered with episodes of recurrent OME were compared with 16 age-matched normal controls for their speech perception abilities and phonological characteristics. Each subject's parent was asked to be interviewed and to respond to the questionnaire. The Speech Perception Test and the Urimal Test of Articulation and Phonology were administered to the subjects in the soundproof room. The results of the study indicated that there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the scores for speech perception and consonant correctness. However, the experimental group showed more diverse phonological processes, and they also had higher correlation between their speech perception scores and consonant correctness as compared to the control group. The results imply that frequent OME before the age of 3 may not deteriorate the speech perception and phonological ability, or their negative influences on speech development may not persist beyond the age of 5.