Hearing screening for children
In the first years of life, hearing is an important part of the social, emotional and cognitive development of children. Even a mild or partial hearing loss may develop into a child's ability to speak and understand language.
The good news is that hearing problems can be treated if they're caught early - ideally by the time a baby is 3 months old. So it is important to your child's hearing checked early and regularly evaluated.
Causes of hearing loss
Hearing loss is a common birth defect, affecting about 1 to 3 of 1,000 babies. A number of factors can cause hearing loss, and about half the time, no cause is found.
Hearing loss can occur when a child:
was born prematurely
remained in the neonatal intensive care unit (ICU)
had high bilirubin and needed a transfusion
received medications that can cause hearing loss
has a family history of childhood hearing loss
had complications at birth
had frequent ear infections
had infections such as meningitis or cytomegalovirus
was exposed to very loud sounds or noise, even for a short
When hearing should be evaluated?
Most children who are born with a hearing loss can be diagnosed through a hearing screening. But in some cases the hearing loss is caused by things like infections, trauma, and damaging noise, and the problem does not arise until later in childhood. So it is important that children hearing evaluated regularly as they grow.
Your newborn should be screened for hearing loss before being discharged from the hospital. Each state and territory in the United States now has an Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (eHDi) was established to identify before the age of 3 months every child born with a permanent hearing loss and to provide intervention services before 6 months of age. If your baby is not born on this screening, or was at home or a birth center, it is important to have a hearing screening within the first 3 weeks of life.
If your baby does not pass the hearing screening, it does not necessarily mean there is a hearing loss. Since dirt or liquid can interfere in the ear with the test, it is often repeated to confirm a diagnosis.
If your newborn does not pass the initial hearing screening, it is important to get a repeat test within 3 months, it may begin treatment immediately. Treatment for hearing loss may be most effective if it is started by the time a child is 6 months old.
Children who appear to have normal hearing should continue their hearing evaluated at regular doctor visits. Listening tests are generally aged 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15 and 18 performed at any other time when there is a problem.
But if your child have trouble hearing, if speech development seems abnormal, or if your child's speech is difficult to understand, speak with your doctor seems.
Symptoms of hearing
Even if your newborn passes the hearing screening, continue to watch for signs that hearing is normal. Some hearing milestones your child should reach in the first year of life:
Most newborns startle or "jump" to sudden loud noises.
After 3 months, a baby usually recognizes a parent's voice.
Of 6 months, a child can usually turn his or her eyes or head toward a sound.
After 12 months, a child can usually imitate some sounds and produce a few words, such as "Mama" or "bye-bye."
As your baby grows into a toddler, can be signs of hearing loss are:
limited, poor or no speech
often inattentive
Learning difficulties
seems to have increased the TV volume
failed to conversation-level speech or answers inappropriately react to speech
Types of hearing loss
Conductive hearing loss is caused by a fault in the transmission of sound to the inner ear. Infants and young children frequently develop conductive hearing loss due to ear infections. This loss is usually mild, transient and treatable with medicine or surgery.
Sensorineural hearing loss involves malformation, malfunction or damage to the inner ear (cochlea) and is rarely due to problems with the auditory cortex of the brain. The most common type is cochlear hearing loss, and this may involve a specific part of the cochlea (inner hair cells and outer hair cells or both). There is usually at birth, and may be hereditary or the result of a number of medical problems, although sometimes the cause is unknown. This type of hearing loss is usually permanent.
The degree of hearing loss can be mild, moderate, severe or profound. Sometimes the loss is progressive (hearing gradually poorer) and sometimes unilateral (one ear).
Because the hearing loss may be progressive, repeat audiologic testing should be performed. Sensorineural hearing loss is usually not reversible medically or surgically, but children are often helped with this type of hearing loss with hearing aids.
A mixed hearing loss occurs when both conductive and sensorineural hearing loss present.
Central hearing loss occurs when the screw is working properly, but not other parts of the brain. This is a less common type of hearing loss and is difficult to treat.
Auditory Processing Disorders (APD) is not exactly a type of hearing loss, because people with APD usually good to hear in a quiet environment. However, most have great difficulty hearing in noise, the typical environment in which we live in. In most cases, APD can be represented treated after appropriate therapy.
How Hearing tested
Various methods can be used to test hearing, depending on the child's age, development and health.
Behavioral tests involve careful observation of the child's behavioral response to sounds like calibrated speech and pure tones. Pure tones are the different pitches (frequencies) of sounds. Sometimes other signals are used to be calibrated in order to obtain frequency.
The behavioral response of a child eye movements might be a head-turn lift of a small child, placement of a game piece from a preschooler, or a hand of a grade schooler. Speech responses may involve. Identification by picture of a word or repeating words at soft or comfortable levels Very young children are capable of a number of behavioral tests.
Physiological tests
Physiological tests are not hearing tests but are measures that can partially estimate hearing. They are for children who can not be tested behaviorally to find (due to young age, developmental delay or other medical conditions) and at any age, the function of the auditory system is used guilt.
Auditory brainstem response (ABR) test
Tiny earphones in the ear canals and small electrodes (which look like small sticker) for this test are behind the ears and on the forehead placed. Usually click sounds are introduced through the earphones, and the electrodes measure the auditory nerve response to the sounds. An average computer these responses and displays waveforms.
An infant can sleep naturally or have to be sedated for this test. Older children can be cooperatively tested in a silent environment while they are busy visually.
Because it is characteristic waveforms for normal hearing in portions of the speech range, a normal ABR can predict fairly well that a baby's inner ear and the lower part of the auditory system (brain stem) is functioning normally in this part of the series. An abnormal ABR may be due to hearing loss, but it can also be due to some medical problems or difficulties in measurement.
Auditory Steady State Response (ASSR) test
An infant is usually sleep or sedated for the ASSR. This is a new test that needs to be done to assess in conjunction with the ABR to hearing currently.
The sound is transmitted through the ear canals, and a computer, the brain's response to sound and automatically adjusts the threshold of hearing. This test is still in development and should not be alone, but can be used alongside an ABR.
Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test
This short test with a sleeping infant or an older child to be able to sit still can be done. A small probe is inserted into the ear canal, then many pulse-type sounds are inserted, and "echo" response from the outer hair cells of the inner ear is recorded. These recordings are averaged by a computer.
A normal intake of healthy function of the outer hair cells connected. In some cases, despite a healthy function of the outer hair cells, hearing loss may be present when it is in other parts of the hearing is way because of problems.
ABR and OAE tests are used in hospitals to screen newborns. When a baby is not a screening test is generally repeated. If the screening is failed again, the baby is referred for full hearing test.
Tympanometry
Tympanometry is not a hearing test but a procedure that show how well the eardrum when a slight noise and air pressure can be inserted into the ear canal moves. It is helpful in identifying middle ear problems, such as accumulation of fluid behind the eardrum.
A is a graphical representation of Tympanogramm tympanometry. A "flat" line on a tympanogram may indicate that the eardrum is not mobile, while a "peak" pattern often shows normal function. A visual examination should be performed with ear tympanometry.
Middle ear muscle reflex (MEMR)
The MEMR tests how well the ear responds to loud noises. In a healthy ear loud noises trigger a reflex and cause the muscles in the middle ear to contract.
For MEMR (also called acoustic reflex test), a soft rubber top is placed in the ear canal. A series of loud noises are sent triggered by the spikes in the ears and a machine records whether the sound has a reflex. Sometimes the test is performed while the child sleeps.
Who conducts hearing tests?
A pediatric audiologist specializes in the assessment and support of children with hearing loss and work closely with doctors, educators and language / speech therapists.
Audiologists have a lot of specialized training. You have master's or doctoral degree in audiology, have performed internships, and are certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (CCC-A) or are Fellows of the American Academy of Audiology (F-AAA).
Treatment for hearing loss
Hearing aids are the primary nonmedical treatment for hearing loss. The most common type of hearing loss affects outer hair cell dysfunction, hearing aids allow an amplification of the sound, to overcome this problem. A hearing of the basic components are the microphone, amplifier and receiver. Change a number of circuit options, such as the hearing aid makes certain sounds louder.
There are several types of hearing aids, some are worn on the body, while others fit behind the ear or in the ear. Some specialized hearing aids are to sound waves attached to the bones of the skull directly to the cochlea and may not be accessible using standard hearing aids under the conditions of conductive hearing loss.
No single style or manufacturer is best - hearing aid selection is on a child's individual needs. Most children with bilateral hearing loss (both ears) wear two hearing aids.
Hearing aids are expensive due to their sophisticated technology and cost at least several hundred dollars. Unfortunately, they are often not taken over by health insurance companies, although some states now that the insurance cover at least to require a portion of the costs. If there are financial concerns a family may qualify for assistance through a government program.
A special amplification device called an FM system can help in the school. FM systems are sometimes called "auditory trainer." They can be made available in the classroom to improve hearing in group or noisy environments and are also used for personal or private use. Hearing aids or other alarm devices can help older children.
In addition to hearing aids or FM systems, hearing rehabilitation may include auditory or listening therapy and speech (lip) reading.
A cochlear implant is not hearing back, but transmits sound information on the damaged cochlea directly to the nerve of hearing. It is for children with hearing loss who do not should not benefit from hearing aids.