Research Implications: Studies involving normal hearing brain injured adults (Casterline,et. Al., '89, Ramsing, '96) indicate that clinical amplification increased sustained attention, decreased distractibility and improved discrimination for conversational speech in noise filled environments. Current phonologic awareness research indicates that altering the auditory signal (Merzenich, M., et al. '96, Shaywitz, '96, McKinnis, Thompson, '99) may help children distinguish between "phonic bins". The National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) estimates approximately 17% of school-age children have language-based reading disabilities. The major impediment to learning to read is deficits in phonological processing or difficulty in decoding spelled words into sounds (Nichd, Research Program in Learning Disabilities, G. Reid Lyon, '96). Studies have repeatedly shown that children entering Kindergarten with poor phonologic awareness are at risk for future reading and spelling failure (Eldredge, '95).

Amplification as a remediation technique for children with normal peripheral hearing has been reported since the early '80's and documented by ASHA in '91 (Asha 33, Suppl. 3, 22-24). This type of rehabilitation has proven successful with learning disabled children in educational and clinical settings as a remedial technique for those with phonologic and central auditory processing disorders (CAPD) and/or language/learning delays/disorders/disabilities.

Recent studies provide evidence that there are also major educational consequences when children have minimal or slight hearing loss (Bess, Dodd-Murphy and Parker, 1998). A 1998 study from the Center of Disease Control in Atlanta found that 15% of the students studied had slight hearing loss (Niskar et al., 1998). These children were usually unaware of this loss, but demonstrated greater dysfunctional behaviors and much more frequently repeated a grade. Even a slight hearing loss can be accompanied by delayed vocabulary acquisition, reduced incidental learning, frequent significant academic delay and limited reading abilities (Ross, 1990).

With or without loss, background noise can also compromise academic performance, reading and spelling skills, concentration, attention and behavior. Reductions in background noise, via acoustical modification, had a significant effect on increasing concentration, attention and participatory behavior (Lehman and Gratiot, 1994).

Documented research demonstrates that clinical amplification and background noise reduction (provided by Hearit auditory tools) enable students with language/learning delays/disorders/disabilities, and/or slight hearing loss and/or concentration and attentional problems to experience remarkable improvements in academic performance.