SERVICES

How do we test hearing?

A full battery of tests is used to determine the severity, nature and cause of the hearing loss. These include:

• Otoscopic examination: This examination is conducted to examine the ear canal and the ear drum (tympanic membrane).
• Typanometry testing: This test looks at the functioning of the ear drum and can help determine if a person has a hole in the ear drum or an ear infection.
• Pure Tone audiometry: This test requires co-operation and focus from the person. During audiometry testing, sounds will be delivered either through loudspeakers or headphones. If you hear the sounds, you must press the button. The purpose of this test is to determine the softest volume at which one is able to hear a variety of brief sounds.
• Play audiometry and behavioural audiometry: A variation of pure tone audiometry testing is done with infants, toddlers and children. Depending on the age, one or two audiologists may do the testing together.   In young infants and toddlers, they will be conditioned that the sound is coming from the animated toy that is placed to the side of the child. The audiologist will then produce a sound and wait for the child to turn towards the toy.  In older children, the child may be instructed to respond to the sound by putting a block into the bucket each time they hear it.
• Oto-acoustic emissions: This test is used to determine the functioning of the cochlear (outer hair cells).  It is commonly used to test babies, young children and children with special needs.  It also forms part of the neonatal hearing screening conducted at birth.  Here the child needs only to sit still without needing to respond actively to sound.
• Speech testing: As we don’t hear in beeps, speech testing looks at your ability to recognise speech in various settings such as in quiet and in noise. These tests help us determine how easy or difficult it is to hear speech and give us an idea of the communication difficulties you may be having in the real world.

When does your child need to see a speech-language therapist?

• If your child has difficulty pronouncing certain sounds, e.g. [r], [th], [s] or it is difficult to understand what he/she is saying.
• If your child has difficulty planning and coordinating movements of the lips, tongue and mouth to make speech sounds.
• If your child stutters for longer than 6 months.
• If your child has difficulty learning language and he/she is not expressing themselves appropriately for their age.  This includes both understanding and using language (vocabulary and grammar skills)
• If your child has difficulty with auditory perceptual skills (auditory memory, auditory discrimination, following oral instructions) and/or phonological awareness skills (auditory analysis, synthesis and closure) which are related to reading and spelling skills
• If your child struggles to understand and follow the social aspects of language including the motivation to communicate, how to conduct a conversation and how to interact with other people.
• If your child has suffered from brain damage which has affect his/her ability to hear, talk, develop language or eat appropriately, g. a car accident, near drowning, stroke, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, meningitis etc. or has a diagnosed disorder or syndrome, e.g. autism, Down syndrome etc.
• If your child has hearing difficulties which results in speech and language difficulties.
• If your baby, toddler or child has difficulty feeding, swallowing, chewing and tolerating different textures and foods.