Summarize methods of testing hearing and indicate at which age levels different tests are most appropriate

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The simplest test of hearing is pure tone audiometry in which audiologists use and audiometer to measure the softest level at which sound can first be detected at different frequencies. However, this requires that a child be old enough to respond to instructions and indicate when she can hear something. Two other tests for older children are the behavioral audiological evaluation which requires them to listen to a series of beeps and indicate when they hear a sound, and speech audiometry in which words are presented at different levels of loudness and the students are asked to repeat them. For infants, screening for hearing loss can be done with two methods: evoked otoacoustic emissions in which sounds are introduced into the ear canal and a computer records reactions from the cochlea; or screening auditory brain stem response in which neural activity is stimulated and electrodes detect sound along a pathway. Tympanography can be used at all ages: it tests how well the middle ear is functioning and how well the eardrum moves by pumping air into the outer ear canal and measuring eardrum movement.