Chapter 7: Pediatric Hearing Loss & Identification and Assessment

Question 1

Normal Hearing for a Child

Answer 1

-10dB-15dB
-Not as big of a range as adults because children do not have language yet so hearing is crucial

Question 2

Behavioral Testing based on Cognitive Age

Answer 2

birth-6mo: Behavioral Observation Audiometry
6-36mo: Visual Reinforcement Audiometry
30mo-5yrs: Conditioned Play Audiometry

Question 3

4 Purposes for Pediatric Audiology Assessment

Answer 3

1.) Confirm or deny hearing loss as a cause of child’s problem
2.) Status of middle ear
3.) Assess function using speech perception
4.) Observe auditory behaviors

Question 4

Cross Check Principle

Answer 4

Required behavioral (subjective) and electrophysiological (objective) testing to avoid jumping conclusions based on one test.

Question 5

Before Testing

Answer 5

1.) Determine cognitive age
2.) Determine physical abilities to do task
3.) Choose a test room setup

Question 6

Test Assistant

Answer 6

Responsible for keeping the child on task and communicating with audiologist throughout testing.
Communicate something the audiologist may not have seen.

Question 7

Basic Pediatric Hearing Evaluation Protocol

Answer 7

1.) Developmental history
2.) Physical examination
3.) Behavioral frequency-specific threshold test
4.) Acoustic Immittance measurements
5.) Otoacoustic emission (OAE)
6.) Brainstem Auditory Response (ABR)

Question 8

Behavioral Observation Audiology (BOA)

Answer 8

-Birth-6mo
-Change in sucking response due to auditory stimulus

Question 9

Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA)

Answer 9

-6-36mo
-When sound is presented, child will look in direction of sound and reinforced with a toy.

Question 10

Conditioned Play Audiometry

Answer 10

-30mo-5yrs
-Child performs motor act (drop task) in response to auditory stimulus

Question 11

Supra-threshold Speech Recognition

Answer 11

-Ability to correctly recognize speech at suprathreshold levels
-Helpful in deciding if child will benefit from hearing aids

Question 12

Objective Tests

Answer 12

Otoacoustic emissions (OAE)
Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR)
Immittance Testing

Question 13

Immittance Testing

Answer 13

-Includes tympanometry and acoustic reflex measures
-Purpose is to assess middle ear function and auditory pathway integrity

Question 14

Otoacoustic Emissions

Answer 14

-A tone is presented to the inner ear and a signal is sent back and recorded to show the function of the hair cells.

Question 15

Auditory Brainstem Response

Answer 15

-Very small electrical voltage potentials originating from the 8th cranial nerve and recorded from the scalp in response to sounds presented in the ear.