Speech Rhythm in Hearing Loss and Cochlear Implant Listening
Abstract:
A substantial portion of the global human population live with some level of hearing loss, and the World Health Organisation estimates this disability may affect up to one in four people by 2050. For people who use speech to communicate, hearing impairment can cause serious disruption to daily life, yet we do not fully understand how speech rhythm perception is impacted by hearing loss. Moreover, in the case of people who use cochlear implants to listen, it is unclear how well aspects of speech rhythm are captured by hearing devices. This chapter surveys an interdisciplinary literature, bringing together insights from perception, speech therapy, and hearing and audiological sciences across the lifespan to construct an emergent picture of speech rhythm processing in the context of hearing disability.