Identifying hearing loss at the earliest opportunity is key to helping children achieve their full potential.
Hearing loss can affect your child’s speech and language development, school performance and social relationships.
Our Rehabilitation Services Department provides a multidisciplinary approach to intervention that will alleviate the adverse effects of hearing loss on speech and language development, academic performance, and cognitive development.
We offer the following audiology services:
Your child may need a full hearing evaluation if he or she:
- Did not pass the universal newborn hearing screening at the time of birth
- Is not reaching auditory developmental milestones
- Doesn’t respond to things said, or doesn’t seem to notice when spoken to
- Asks you to repeat things (more for older children than infants)
- Has difficulty locating the direction of a sound or voice
- Starts talking later than children the same age (based on reports by teachers, etc)
- Can’t say words and sentences the right way
- Has difficulty hearing one voice when several people are talking
- Misses quick or soft sounds
- Is performing poorly at school
- Has diseases that can cause hearing loss
- Has been diagnosed with other conditions that sometimes include hearing loss
- Has been taking medical treatments that may have hearing loss as a side effect
- Has parents or grandparents with hearing problems (hearing loss is hereditary)
Are my child’s auditory skills developing normally?
Click each box to learn about auditory developmental milestones in children.
Auditory development in newborns (Birth–3 Months)
- Startles to loud sounds
- Quiets or smiles when spoken to
- Seems to recognize your voice and quiets if crying
- Increases or decreases sucking behavior in response to sound
Auditory development in infants (4–6 Months)
- Moves eyes in direction of sounds
- Responds to changes in tone of your voice
- Notices toys that make sounds
- Pays attention to music
Auditory development in infants (7 Months–1 Year)
- Enjoys games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake
- Turns and looks in direction of sounds
- Listens when spoken to
- Recognizes words for common items like "cup", "shoe", "book", or "juice"
- Begins to respond to requests (e.g. "Come here" or "Want more?")
Auditory development in toddlers (1 year to 2 Years)
- Points to a few body parts when asked
- Follows simple commands and understands simple questions ("Roll the ball," "Kiss the baby," "Where's your shoe?")
- Listens to simple stories, songs, and rhymes
- Points to pictures in a book when named
Auditory development in toddlers (2 years to 3 years)
- Understands differences in meaning ("go-stop," "in-on," "big-little," "up-down")
- Follows two requests ("Get the book and put it on the table")
- Listens to and enjoys hearing stories for longer periods of time
Auditory development in children (3 years to 4 years)
- Hears you when you call from another room
- Hears television or radio at the same loudness level as other family members
- Understands words for some colors, like red, blue, and green
- Understands words for some shapes, like circle and square
- Understands words for family, like brother, grandmother, and aunt
Auditory development in children (4 years to 5 years)
- Understands words for order, like first, next, and last
- Understands words for time, like yesterday, today, and tomorrow
- Follows longer directions, like "Put your pajamas on, brush your teeth, and then pick out a book"
- Follows classroom directions, like "Draw a circle on your paper around something you eat"
- Hears and understands most of what is said at home and in school
Auditory Processing Disorder Evaluations
Does my child have an auditory processing disorder?
Signs and symptoms of an Auditory Processing Disorder:
- Difficulty understanding speech in the presence of competing background noise
- Problems with the ability to localize the source of a signal
- Inconsistent or inappropriate responses to requests for information
- Difficulty following rapid speech
- Frequent requests for repetition and/or rephrasing of information
- Difficulty following directions
- Difficulty or inability to detect the changes in rhythm, stress, and intonation in speech
- Difficulty learning a foreign language or novel speech materials, especially technical language
- Difficulty maintaining attention
- A tendency to be easily distracted
- Poor singing, musical ability, and/or appreciation of music
- Academic difficulties, including reading, spelling and/or learning problems
Auditory Processing Evaluation Referral Criteria
- 7 years of age
- English is the main language spoken in the home
- Within normal limits speech and language skills
- Within Normal limits IQ – 90 or above
- Within Normal limits hearing