Main research areas
Research in the field of speech-language pathology ensures the sustainability of auditory and speech-language interventions. This applies not only to the expectations regarding audibility and linguistic abilities but also to social well-being and quality of life as a reflection of how individuals function with hearing loss in their daily lives. The research group focuses on larger representative studies of the population – children with hearing loss.
Outcome studies: Speech,
language and social wellbeing for children and adolescents with hearing loss
95% of children with hearing loss are born to parents with typical hearing, and almost all of them choose to give their child the opportunity to be part of the hearing world by using today's technological possibilities. By choosing hearing and spoken language for their child, parents also open the door to communicating in their own spoken language – the language of the parents' heart.
Research over the past 30 years has shown that 85% of children with hearing loss can develop spoken language and thrieve at the same level as their hearing peers. The remaining 15% have additional challenges and may use alternative forms of communication.
Intervention studies: Differences and similarities between various interventions
Research has documented a crucial need for using a specific and
auditorily targeted educational intervention after fitting of hearing technology.
The medical, technical, and surgical intervention cannot stand alone if the
parents' wish to pursue a listening and spoken path for their child with
hearing loss. The brain must be trained in perceiving sounds from the hearing
technology and to ensure the best possible outcomes, postoperative speech and
language pathology intervention must be based on knowledge of brain plasticity
and cortical reorganization.
Serious gaming in speech and language pathology
Together with Multisensory Experience Lab at
Aalborg University we explore ways to integrate knowledge about the hearing sense
into a range of communication formats with serious gaming elements to engage
our target audiences in diverse ways. With these formats, we aim to make the
abstract tangible, break down barriers of reality, and create experiences that
can optimize learning and increase motivation and curiosity to enhance understanding
of all aspects about the hearing sense.
Auditory Verbal Therapy – implementation
and quality assurance
Based on research, a three-year program with Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) was introduced as a permanent offer at Copenhagen Hearing and Balance Centre on January 1, 2023, for all children aged 0-6 years with a hearing loss requiring treatment.
As part of the implementation, it was decided that a set of clinical procedures needed to be established to ensure the successful integration and quality assurance of the AVT intervention. A Ph.D. study monitors this initiative by creating a database to track children's outcomes in tests of auditory skills, receptive vocabulary, and social well-being.
About the research group
The Speech and Language Research Group is part of the Center for Hearing and Balance (CHBC) and engages in research and interdisciplinary collaboration with medical, technical, audiological, and speech and language pathology personnel.
The research group focuses on auditory and speech-language pathology interventions for children with hearing loss, following early medical—and in some cases surgical—and hearing technology interventions. The focus is on the children's audibility, speech, and well-being, and on quality assurance of the 3-year auditory and speech-language intervention—called AVT—offered to young children with hearing loss at CHBC. The research group has existed since 2022 but research in the field goes back 30 years. At present the research investigates a cohort of children with data points from 15 years
Data from the longitudinal studies have shown strong evidence that a qualified speech and language pathology intervention is crucial for ensuring the best possible auditory and speech-language outcomes. As evidence has been demonstrated, speech and language pathology research today extends to several areas, including outcomes for adult CI users and child cancer survivors with hearing loss. In close collaboration with the Multisensory Experience Lab (MElab) at Aalborg University, new ways to support children's learning with a playful approach have been researched, developed and implemented in the clinic.
The group is closely linked to University of Copenhagen, Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics and has on average 4 master theses and 10 internships in speech and language pathology per year. Furthermore, the group has several teaching jobs and holds courses in pediatric audiology.
The PhDs are affiliated with
University of Copenhagen, Department of Clinical Medicine.
Researchers
Lone Percy-Smith, PhD,
MA Speech and language pathologist, Senior researcher, Adjunct Professor
Per Cayé-Thomasen, PhD, MD, DMSc, Professor
Stefania Serafin, PhD, Sound and Music computing, Full Professor, Aalborg University
Signe Wischmann, MA Speech and language pathologist,
PhD-student: ”Gamification in Audiology” and research assistant “Earnormous”
Lone
Jantzen, MA Speech and language
pathologist, PhD-student: “Hearing Impairment as a late effect of
paediatric cancer treatment in Danish children and adolescents”
Beauty Hariz, Speech and Language Therapist, LSLS Cert. AVT, PhD-student:
“Speech and Language Outcomes of Children with Cochlear Implants in the Middle
East”
Nete Rudbeck Kamper, MA Speech and language
pathologist, PhD-student: “TeenHear”
Line Husted Baungaard, MA Speech and language
pathologist, PhD-student: “Cochlear Implant in Adults: Outcome and
Auditory Training”
Jane Lignel Josvassen, MA Speech and language
pathologist, LSLS Cert. AVT, Project manager: ”Speech Babble”
Lærke Hammer, MA Speech and language
pathologist, Research assistant: “Earnormous”
Tanja Pihl Sandager, MA in Communication, Knowledge dissemination specialist: ”Good
Hearing, Healthy Brain” and “Earnormous”
Past PhD Candidates
Nille Elise Kepp, MA Speech and language pathologist, PhD: "Music Perception in Danish children with cochlear implants, hearing aids, or normal hearing". Defended her PhD thesis November 2022
Julia Chiossi, Audiologist associated PhD.
Cognitive Processing During Auditory Word Learning: Pupillometry Insights from Cochlear Implant Simulation and Children with Hearing Impairment
Partners and Networks
We collaborate with researchers and clinicians and their teams both nationally and internationally.
As part of Copenhagen Hearing and Balance Centre and Technical University Denmark (TUH), we collaborate and engage in research projects with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), the University of Copenhagen, the Multisensory Experience Lab at Aalborg University, and the audiology clinic at the Dept. of Otorhinolaryngology and Audiology. The research group is also involved in a research project with the Pediatric Oncology Laboratory at Rigshospitalet.
The research group also has close collaborations and projects with the audiology departments at Odense University Hospital and Aarhus University Hospital. Internationally, we collaborate with Associate Professor Ulrika Löfkvist at Uppsala University, Professor Ona Bø Wie at the University of Oslo, and Assistant Professor Hillery Ganek at Brock University Canada.
The research group is part of the national network “Playful Learning" and the professional network 'Audiologopædisk Forum'. The research group collaborates with the primary sector in the local municipality.
We are always open to new collaborations and networks and to present at national and international conferences.
Funding and support
The research group would like to acknowledge the contribution of resources and research funding from Copenhagen Hearing and Balance Centre at Rigshospitalet, as well as external funders:
Velux Fonden, GN Store Nord Fondet, A.P. Møller Fonden, Helsefonden, Kurt Sørensens fond, Hoffmann og Husmans Fond, Interfond, Innovationsfonden, Socialministeriet, William Demant Fond