Concerned about How Well your Child Listens & Hears?
If your child was born in Australia after 2006, they would have had a hearing screening at birth. So why do kids have hearing tests after this initial newborn hearing screening?
Children can develop hearing loss after birth, the hearing screening may have shown a false negative result, or the hearing screening is not sensitive to some mild hearing losses at birth. It is important to have these children’s hearing tested so that their hearing does not negatively impact their speech, language and communication development.
It is also common for many children to experience temporary hearing losses due to otitis media or middle ear infections. This is often referred to as “glue ear”. Middle ear infection effects 80% of all children at some stage up to the age of 3 years. Some children recover from with no intervention at all, while others may experience recurring and persist infections. When ear infections are recurring or persist, it is essential to have the child’s hearing tested as they may need to see an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist for medical opinion and treatment
As a parent and grandparent, you may notice small signs from your child/grandchild that they are not hearing well, particularly when they are in noisy environments. For young children, signs that can indicate a hearing loss are that they don’t turn towards a noise, they don’t respond to their own name, or they are slow to develop speech. For older children, signs of a hearing loss may be that they are struggling with learning or spelling, they ask you to repeat things often or you feel as though they are inattentive or ignoring you or their teachers.
Victorian Hearing offers kids hearing tests from 6 months of age. A paediatric hearing test involves looking into the ear to visually observe the ear canal and ear drum, tympanometry which checks the middle ear and ear drum movement, and an age-appropriate hearing test depending on the individual child’s age and abilities. For young babies, we utilize puppets and exciting toys to teach your infant to provide a behavioural response when they hear a sound. This can be completed with babies at only 6 months of age. Toys and games are used in a kid’s hearing test with children aged approximately 3 years to 6 years of age. While children from approximately 7 years and above can complete the same hearing test an adult would do, but perhaps with a bit more encouragement and motivation.
It is important to keep in mind that paediatric hearing tests assess the ability to detect sounds. It does not look at how their brain processes and makes sense of the sounds they hear. If you are concerned about your child’s ability to make sense of and process sounds, we can complete an auditory processing assessment at Victorian Hearing following a standard hearing test. The audiologist will make this recommendation should they find this to be appropriate for your child. Please note this test is only available for children from 7 years of age.
It is important to keep in mind that paediatric hearing tests assess the ability to detect sounds. It does not look at how their brain processes and makes sense of the sounds they hear. If you are concerned about your child’s ability to make sense of and process sounds, we can complete an auditory processing assessment at Victorian Hearing following a standard hearing test. The audiologist will make this recommendation should they find this to be appropriate for your child. Please note this test is only available for children from 7 years of age.
If you would like to have your child’s hearing tested, make an appointment today. For children under the age of 4 years old, these tests must be booked at our Clayton or Brighton clinics. While children over the age of 4 years old can be seen at all Victorian Hearing Clinics. Call or email us today to discuss your kids hearing test needs. Contact links below.