Ages birth to 6 months (including newborn hearing screenings)

Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions (DPOAE) Testing is used to evaluate cochlear (inner ear) function. As the child is too young to consistently respond to speech and tonal stimuli, testing in the sound booth can not be performed to measure hearing thresholds within this age range. Testing in the sound booth will sometimes be implemented to determine if any changes in behavior occur when different sounds are presented, but this is not a measurement of hearing thresholds, and is typically only performed if hearing loss is suspected.

Ages 6 to 30 months

Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA) provides hearing thresholds for speech and tones. In the sound booth, the child is taught that a head turn towards a sound source will cause a toy to become animated. The sound source is made quieter and quieter until no response is obtained, giving us hearing thresholds for each of those sounds.

Ages 30 months to 4 years

Conditioned Play Audiometry provides hearing thresholds for tones. In the sound booth, the child is taught to perform an act that is a part of a game in response to sounds heard. The sound source is made quieter and quieter until the child does not respond, giving us hearing thresholds for those sounds. This test is accompanied by speech discrimination testing using simple words or pictures.

Ages 4 years to adult

Conventional Audiometry provides hearing thresholds for tones. The patient will respond by pushing a button or raising a hand. The sound is made quieter and quieter until no response is provided. This test is accompanied by speech threshold and discrimination testing by having the person repeat words.

Impedance Audiometry:

Tympanometry to evaluate the functioning of the middle ear, including the ear drum (tympanic membrane) and the 3 tiny bones within the middle ear (ossicles), and to evaluate presence of fluid or pressure behind the ear drum.
Acoustic reflex and reflex decay testing to evaluate neurological function affecting the muscles of the middle ear.

Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) Testing:

Evaluates functioning of the inner ear (cochlea) by testing the tiny hair cells (outer hair cells, specifically) that convert sound energy into a nerve impulse.
This test is important in the diagnosis of a hearing loss or a hearing disorder such as ringing in the ears (tinnitus) or sensitivity to loud sounds (hyperacusis).
It can also provide information related to hearing in children too young to provide reliable audiometric testing.

Auditory Processing Evaluation:

Evaluation of how the central nervous system processes auditory information.
Uses complex auditory information to evaluate central auditory system integrity.
Can only be performed on children 7 years of age or older.
Testing typically consists of conventional audiometry and impedance testing to evaluate peripheral auditory system integrity, dichotic testing in which competing signals are presented to each ear simultaneously, low redundancy speech discrimination tests using degraded speech to test speech discrimination, and temporal processing tests to measure the ability of the brain to maintain a signal in the proper time sequence as it is processed through the central auditory pathways.

Hearing Aid Sales and Services:

Hearing Aid Evaluations and Dispensing.
Hearing Aid Upkeep and Repairs.
Hearing Aid Programming.
Battery Sales.
Hearing Aid Accessories.

Earmolds:

Hearing Aid Earmolds.
Custom Hearing Protection.
Custom Swim Molds.
Custom products that allow coupling to most sound sources including cell phones, I-Pods, in the ear monitors, stethoscopes, etc.

WE PERFORM THE FOLLOWING SERVICES

Audiometric Testing:

Impedance Audiometry:

Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) Testing:

Auditory Processing Evaluation:

Hearing Aid Sales and Services:

Earmolds:

Appointment Desk: (908) 431 - 4224