Lessons Learned From the Outcomes of Children With Hearing Loss Study

In this online chat, two presenters discuss implications of the study findings for aural rehabilitation. The event was sponsored by SIG 9, Hearing and Hearing Disorders in Childhood. Meredith Spratford: Our research has shown that when we use probe microphone verification, we get a closer match to prescriptive targets compared to other methods of verification. Specifically, probe microphone measures provided better fittings (better audibility, too) compared to functional gain (soundfield thresholds). I would also ensure that the child’s aided audibility falls within the confidence interval of expected audibility for their degree of hearing loss, per the UWO (University of Western Ontario) pediatric amplification protocol. Elizabeth Walker: To follow up on what Meredith said, the problem with functional gain is that you’re not checking that the hearing aids are set appropriately at soft or conversational speech, or that it’s comfortable at loud levels. Functional gain just tests thresholds in the sound booth, so it is only appropriate for checking cochlear implants. It’s not appropriate for verifying hearing aids where you need to take into consideration the size of the child’s ear canals and whether you’re meeting targets. Participant: Can you explain prescriptive targets? What should the prescriptive targets be for children? Walker: Prescriptive targets are formulas or fitting procedures for prescribing gain for hearing aids. There used to be lots of these di...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tags: Academia & Research Audiology Health Care Private Practice Schools Slider audiologist Hearing Aids hearing health care hearing loss Source Type: blogs