Susan A. Small

Assistant Professor

B.Sc. Honours (University of British Columbia)
M.Sc. (Simon Fraser University)
M.S. (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Ph.D. (University of British Columbia)

Contact

Phone: (604) 822-5696 (office); (604) 822-6325 (lab)
Fax: (604) 822-6569
E-mail: ssmall@audiospeech.ubc.ca

Profile

Research in the Pediatric Audiology Lab is focussed on furthering our understanding of the maturation of hearing through investigations of peripheral (external ear to 8th nerve) and central (brainstem to cortex) processing. Although the cochlea has been shown to be adult-like at birth, differences in auditory processing at the level of the brainstem and cortex are evident for infants and young children compared to adults. My research investigates both the estimation of hearing threshold in infants with normal hearing and hearing loss using behavioural measures (e.g., visual reinforcement audiometry) and auditory evoked potentials (e.g., auditory steady-state responses) using both air- and bone conducted stimuli and the mechanisms that underlie the infant-adult differences.  My research focus also includes using cortical event-related potentials to learn more about the effect that auditory experience has on early speech perception abilities in infants with normal hearing (i.e., typical amount of auditory experience with speech and language) and young infants who are identified with hearing loss.

Select Publications

Selected Recent Publications:

Small, S.A. & Stapells, D.R. (2008c).  Maturation of bone-conduction multiple auditory steady-state responses. International Journal of Audiology 47(8):476-488.

Small, S.A. & Stapells, D.R.. (2008b).  Normal ipsilateral/contralateral asymmetries in infant multiple auditory steady-state responses to air-and bone-conduction stimuli.   Ear and Hearing, 29(2): 185-198.

Small, S.A. & Stapells, D.R. (2008a).  Chapter 11: Bone-conduction auditory steady-state responses. In: Rance, G. (Ed.) The Auditory Steady-State Response:  generation, recording and clinical application. Plural Publishing, Inc.

Small, S. A., Hatton, J. & Stapells, D.R. (2007).  Effects of bone oscillator coupling method, placement location, and occlusion on bone-conduction auditory steady-state responses in infants. Ear and Hearing 28(1): 83-98.

Small, S.A. & Stapells, D.R. (2006).  Multiple auditory steady-state response thresholds to bone-conduction stimuli in young infants with normal hearing. Ear and Hearing, 27(3):219-228.

Small, S.A. & Stapells, D.R.  (2005).  Multiple auditory steady-state response thresholds to bone-conduction stimuli in adults with normal hearing.  Journal of the American Academy of Audiology; 16: 172-183.

Stapells, D.R., Herdman, A., Small, S.A., Dimitrijevic, A. & Hatton, J. (2005).  Current status of the auditory steady-state responses for estimating an infant’s audiogram.  In R.C Seewald (ed.): A Sound Foundation Through Early Amplification 2004. Basel: Phonak AG, pp.13-31.

Small, S.A. & Stapells, D.R.  (2004).  Artifactual responses when recording auditory steady-state responses. Ear and Hearing; 25(6): 611-23.

Small, S.A. & Stapells, D.R.  (2003). Normal brief-tone bone-conduction behavioural thresholds using the B-71 transducer: Three occlusion conditions. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 14:556-562.

Recent Presentations:

Small, S.A., Hu, N. & Shahnaz, N. Maturation of bone-conduction auditory steady-state response thresholds and the mechano-acoustical properties of the middle ear in occluded and unoccluded ears in infants with normal hearing. XXI Biennial Symposium of the International Evoked Response Audiometry Study Group (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 8-11, 2009).

Small, S.A. & Werker, J.F. (submitted).  Acoustic-change complex to speech stimuli in four-month-old infants and adults with normal hearing. XXI Biennial Symposium of the International Evoked Response Audiometry Study Group (Rio de Janeiro,Brazil, June 8-11, 2009).

Small, S.A. & Stapells, D.R. (2007).  Maturation of bone-conduction multiple auditory steady-state responses: Criteria for “normal”.  XX Biennial Symposium of the International Evoked Response Audiometry Study Group (Bled, Slovenia, June 11-14, 2007). 

Small, S.A. & Stapells, D.R. (2006).  Maturation of bone-conduction auditory steady-state response thresholds in infants 0-24 months of age.  International Conference on Newborn Hearing Screening, Diagnosis and Intervention (Cernobbio, Italy, May 31-June3, 2006).

Hatton, J., Small, S.A., & Stapells, D.R.  (2005). Effect of bone-oscillator placement on infant ASSRthresholds to multiple bone-conduction stimuli.  XIX Biennial Symposium of the International Evoked Response Audiometry Study Group (Havana, Cuba, June 6-10, 2005).

Small, S.A. & Stapells, D.R. (2005). Normal ipsilateral/contralateral asymmetries in infant bone-conduction multiple auditory steady-state responses. XIX Biennial Symposium of the International Evoked Response Audiometry Study Group (Havana, Cuba, June 6-10, 2005).

Small, S.A. , Hatton, J. & Stapells, D.R. (2005).  Maturation of auditory steady-state response (ASSR) thresholds to multiple bone-conduction stimuli.  XIX Biennial Symposium of the International Evoked Response Audiometry Study Group (Havana, Cuba, June 6-10, 2005).

Small, S.A. & Stapells, D.R. (2005).  Estimation of bone-conduction thresholds in infants: Oscillator coupling method. Abstracts of the XIX Biennial Symposium of the International Evoked Response Audiometry Study Group (Havana, Cuba, June 6-10, 2005).

Small, S.A. & Stapells, D.R. (2003). Auditory steady-state responses: Stimulus artifact issues.      American Auditory Society Bulletin, 28(1): 37.  Retrieved April 4, 2006, from http://www.amauditorysoc.org/pages/abstracts/2003-mr-15.htm

Teaching

AUDI 562 Pediatric Audiology
AUDI 528 Aural Rehabilitation
AUDI 552 Diagnostic Audiology I
AUDI 558 Physiological Measures of Auditory Function