Child Hearing Test & Assessments - Dublin, Naas, Mallow & Limerick

CHILD HEARING TEST AND ASSESSMENT

Child’s Hearing

A child’s quality of life and development vitally depends on hearing. Hearing helps the child learn to read, to enjoy music and to receive warnings of approaching harm. Child will have difficulty coping with many of life’s challenges and opportunity without good hearing. As a parent it is important to understand how your child hears, how to help your child prevent hearing loss and what to do if you suspect a hearing loss. Suspicion is the key to diagnosis and treatment.

Milestones of Hearing and Communication

Most babies are born with normal hearing and some are born with hearing problems. There are other children born with normal hearing but begin to have hearing problems as they grow older. Hearing from both ears (binaural hearing) allows child to localise the sound and also helps in understanding speech in a noisy background. Below is the guideline of age appropriate hearing milestones. Remember! Every child not the same and children reach milestones at different ages.

Age	Milestones
Birth to 3 months	Reacts to loud sounds with startle reflex Is soothed and quieted by soft sounds Turns head to you when you speak Is awakened by loud voices and sounds Smiles in response to voices when spoken to Seems to know your voice and quiets down if crying
3 to 6 months	Looks or turns toward a new sound Responds to no and changes in tone of voice Imitates his/her own voice Begins to repeat sounds (such as ooh, aah, and ba-ba) Becomes scared by a loud voice or noise
6 to 10 months	Responds to his/her own name, telephone ringing, someone’s voice, even when not loud Knows words for common things (cup, shoe) and sayings (bye-bye) Makes babbling sounds, even when alone Starts to respond to requests such as come here Looks at things or pictures when someone talks about them
10 to 15 months	Plays with own voice, enjoying the sound and feel of it Points to or looks at familiar objects or people when asked to do so Imitates simple words and sounds; may use a few single words meaningfully Enjoys games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake Follows one-step commands when shown by a gesture
15 to 18 months	Follows simple directions, such as give me the ball without being shown Uses words he/she has learned often Uses words he/she has learned often Uses 2 to 3 word sentences to talk about and ask for things Uses 2 to 3 word sentences to talk about and ask for things Knows 10 to 20 words Points to some body parts when asked
18 to 24 months	Understands simple yes-no questions (Are you hungry?) Understands simple phrases (in the cup, on the table) Enjoys being read to Points to pictures when asked
24 to 36 months	Understands not now and no more Chooses things by size (big, little) Follows two-step commands, such as get your shoes and come here Understands many action words (run, jump)

Signs of Hearing Difficulty

When parents notice that their child is not responding to the sound appropriately, this may be a signal of hearing loss. Sometimes it is difficult to detect mild hearing loss or when there is hearing loss in only one ear. It is important to remember that even mild hearing loss can have negative impact on child’s development. Children with mild hearing loss may have difficulty in school and can show attention, behavioural or social problem.

Watch out for some common warning signs for hearing loss which include:

Family/friends or teacher concern regarding hearing ability
Lack of attention or behavioural problem
Poorer than expected academic performance
Not responding to sounds or someone talking
Using ‘what or ‘huh’ frequently
Intently looking at speaker’s face
Difficulty understanding speech in group or background noise
Sitting close to TV or increasing TV volume
Unable to locate the source of sound accurately
Delayed speech and language development

If you suspect any of the above and have concern over your child’s hearing you must contact your GP. A complete diagnostic hearing assessment is very important which will indicate about child’s hearing and also about his middle ear function.

At The Audiology Clinic the diagnostic hearing assessment is carried out by Doctor of Audiology Dr Deepak Kumar. Deepak is an Audiological Scientist specialises in hearing and balance.