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The Importance of Hearing Test
A child with normal hearing develops hearing skills in stages:
| Detection | Child shows awareness of speech or sound. They detect it but don’t understand what it means. |
| Discrimination | Child recognizes that some sounds are the same or different. |
| Identification | Child understands simple words, phrases, sentences, along with building memory. |
| Comprehension | Child understands longer and more complex language. |
Source: www.audiologyonline.com
How do you know if your child has a hearing loss?
Screening Hearing Test
- Screening is a brief test to tell if your child has a hearing loss.
- Babies should be screened no later than 1 month old.
- If your child did not pass the screening test, then your child need a full
hearing test. - Further Information:
- Resource for Parents: New York State Department of Health
Audiological Evaluation
- Also known as “full hearing test,” which determines the types of hearing loss.
- There are different types of full hearing tests.
- Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) gives information about the inner ear, which is also known as cochlea.
- Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) are “the sounds given off by the inner ear when the cochlea is stimulated by the sound.”
- Pure-Tone Testing determines the “faintest tones” a person can hear from low to high sound levels.
- Speech Testing includes Speech Reception Threshold (SRT), which determines the “faintest speech that can be heard half of the time.”
- Tests of the Middle Ear give information on how the middle ear is functioning. Tests include tympanometry, acoustic reflex measures, and static acoustic impedance.
- Source: Different Types of Hearing Tests (ASHA)
- The results of full hearing tests are confirmed within 3 months, and your child may be enrolled in early intervention programs within 6 months.
- Resource for Parents: Hearing Loss Association of America
Educational Options:
How will your child communicate to you and other people?
- Auditory Verbal: Your child will learn through listening and spoken language.
- Auditory Oral: Your child will learn through listening and visual cues.
- Cued Speech: Your child will learn through hand cues.
- Total or Simultaneous communication: Your child will learn sign language while talking.
- American Sign Language: Your child will learn sign language without talking.
- Source: Ways to Communicate with a Child with Hearing Loss
- Resources for Parents: Communication Options, Early Intervention, and CDC Resources
– Angie
