Children and Hearing Loss
Diagnosis
How do you verify whether and to what extent a child is affected by hearing loss? Babies and small children are not able to respond to conventional hearing test as adults do.
Pediatric audiologists employ different methods of evaluating the hearing threshold for children appropriately. Some of these measurements can even be done while the child is asleep. Thus, parents can be assured that none of these methods will have any negative effect on the child.
The testing of the hearing ability is referred to as audiometry. Subjective as well as objective measuring methods are available and commonly employed.
Subjective measuring methods:
- Reflex audiometry
- Visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA)
- Play audiometry
- Pure-tone audiometry
- Speech audiometry
Objective measuring methods:
- Tympanometry
- OAE (Otoacoustic Emissions)
- BERA (Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry)
Typically subjective and objective methods are combined.
