Newborn Hearing Screenings
It is now mandated by the state of California since 2006 that all newborns receive a hearing screening before discharge from the hospital. We offer follow up otoacoustic emission (OAE) screenings as well as diagnostic auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing to determine auditory synchrony and integrity.
- Otoscopic Examination
- Inspection of the outer ear to assess wax build-up, infection, and abnormalities of ear canal and eardrum.
- Otoacoustic Emissions
- Sounds are presented into your child’s ear and a tiny microphone measures responses from outer hair cells located in the inner ear.
- Auditory Brainstem Response
- Electrodes are placed on the forehead and behind ear ear of your newborn. Sounds are presented through earphones or with a bone conduction vibrator and our electrodes record the brains response to sound.
- Audiological Evaluations
- Complete hearing testing for all ages provided by a certified clinical audiologist. We provide a comprehensive assessment of outer, middle, and inner ear function.
Audiological Assessment
- Visual Reinforcement Audiometry
- Sounds are presented to your child through earphones or speakers and we watch for head turns towards our sounds. When your child turns we present a lighted and animated toy as a reward.
- Conditioned Play Audiometry
- An audiologist and your child will play a game. When your child hears our sounds they will put a toy in a bucket, place blocks to build a tower, or take a basketball shot.
- Speech Audiometry
- The audiologist will ask your child repeat words or point to pictures to determine the softest speech sounds that they are able to hear.
- Traditional Audiometry
- If your child is old enough, the audiologist will have them raise their hand when they hear a sound.
Assessment of middle ear function
- Tympanometry – a test of middle ear function allowing us to determine how your child’s eardrum is moving and asses for fluid or other middle ear related disorders.
- Acoustic Reflex Threshold – assesses the integrity of the auditory and facial nerves by presenting beeps into the ear and measuring the contraction of the stapedial muscle in response to those beeps.
Diagnostic Otoacoustic Emissions
- Otoacoustic Emissions – sounds are presented into your child’s ear and a tiny microphone measures responses from outer hair cells located in the inner ear.