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Nine adults with single-sided deafness previously implanted with a Baha were given a two-week trial with a CROS hearing aid and tested in unaided and aided conditions. Both devices were compared on head shadow effect reduction, speech perception measures, self-assessment questionnaires, and daily diaries. The CROS reduced the head shadow effect for more frequencies than the Baha. Participants performed well across all conditions with speech to the poor ear in quiet. The QuickSIN showed both devices adversely affected speech perception with noise to the poor ear; the CROS was more disadvantageous. Neither device improved speech perception with noise to the better ear. The BBSS and SSQ demonstrated subjective benefit and the diaries indicated frequent use of both devices. Five participants preferred the CROS for sound quality; three preferred the Baha for comfort. As both devices seem comparable, a CROS should be the first intervention option recommended before considering Baha surgery.

My dissertation expands on recent work in literary studies that has emphasized the significance of autobiographical narratives of disability for both identity construction and the establishment of narrative authority. It adds to this recent scholarship with the critical understanding that letters are often a significant part of the stories that persons with disabilities tell about themselves. I concentrate on the letters of three Victorian writers—Harriet Martineau, John Kitto, and Helen Keller—whose deafness or hearing impairment have been subjects of much scholarship, but whose familiar letters have not been completely recognized as vital resources for insight into their disability narratives. I examine how each author uses the implied or imagined community inherent in the exchange of familiar letters in specific yet different ways to write their disability narrative and I explore the ways that conceptions of disabled embodiment are constructed, deconstructed, and re-written. I explore ways in which Harriet Martineau uses letters to blur the lines between the private and the public and to publish an illness/disability narrative that allowed her to maintain both personal and public authority over her illness and disability; I examine Helen Keller’s early letters and the ways in which writing about her body enabled her, through a significant epistolary community, to explore her own existence and to develop a concern with philanthropic work; and I consider John Kitto’s familiar letters in comparison with his work The Lost Senses and I explore his self-construction in that work as a solitary “overcomer” and the manner in which these letters contradict this construction to provide a fuller picture of his life leading up to the book’s publication. I also discuss several of Kitto’s poems as critical additions to his disability narrative. Building on the work of my previous chapters, I conclude this dissertation with an examination of the familiar letters and poetry of Amy Levy. My inclusion of Levy’s letters and poetry builds on and complicates my work in the preceding chapters and makes a case for the recognition that disability narratives are multifaceted and cannot always be restricted to a single concern.

Nasality is a common resonance disorder present in the speech of severely hearing impaired individuals (Hudgins, 1934). The likely cause has been attributed to structural or functional abnormalities of the velopharyngeal mechanism as well as deviations in pitch and loudness. In addition, hearing impaired individuals speak at a slower rate than normal hearing individuals which has been shown to exacerbate the presence of nasality in their speech (Colton & Cooker, 1968). The purpose of this study was to determine whether deliberate increases in speaking rate would serve to decrease the amount of nasality in the speech of severely hearing impaired individuals. The participants were 11 severe to profoundly hearing impaired students, ranging in age from 12 to 19 years (mean = 16 years). Each participant provided a baseline speech sample (R1) followed by three training sessions during which participants were trained to increase their speaking rate. Following the training sessions, a second speech sample was obtained (R2). Acoustic and perceptual analysis pf the speech samples obtained at R1 and R2 were undertaken. The acoustic analysis focused on changes in first and second formant frequency bandwidth (BW1 & BW2). The perceptual analysis involved 21 naïve listeners rating the speech samples (at R1 & R2) for perceived nasality. Findings indicated a significant increase in speaking rate at R2. In addition, a significantly narrower BW2 frequency and lower perceptual rating score was obtained at R2 across all participants, suggesting a considerable decrease in nasality as speaking rate increases. The influences of speaking rate changes on the functioning of the velopharyngeal mechanism are discussed. In addition, the clinical implications of the findings are explored.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2007. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (S.T.M.)--Yale University Divinity School, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-96).

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Univ., 2001. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Otolaryngology, 2004. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 222-254).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Mar. 31, 2008). Advisor: Linda B. Walker. Keywords: music, hearing, band directors, teachers, audiology, spl, musicians. Includes survery instrument. Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-182).

Thesis (M. Aud.)--University of Canterbury, 2007. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 172-178). Also available via the World Wide Web.