Evaluating meaningful auditory integration in profoundly hearing-impaired children.

The Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (MAIS) was developed to evaluate meaningful use of sound in everyday situations by profoundly hearing-impaired children. Information about the use of sound in everyday situations is obtained with a parent interview technique. Initial findings obtained with this scale are reported in Experiment 1 for children who use a hearing aid, single-channel cochlear implant, multichannel cochlear implant, or two-channel tactile aid. The hearing aid users were perceived by their parents to use sound in everyday situations to a greater extent than were the users of either implant or the tactile aid. There was a trend toward slightly higher performance by the multi- than by the single-channel cochlear implant users. The tactile aid users were perceived by their parents to use sound in a meaningful way to the most limited extent. Scores on the MAIS, which were obtained on a longitudinal basis, are reported in Experiment 2. The findings suggest that meaningful auditory integration continued to develop over time in children who used each type of sensory aid.