Why test children’s hearing?

Three in every 100 children under the age of 18 experience hearing loss, in some degree. Both hearing and speech are essential tools for children to be able to learn, play and develop social skills. They learn to communicate by imitating sounds they hear. A child with an undetected and untreated hearing loss can miss a lot of the speech and language around them which may result in delayed speech or language development, social problems and academic difficulties. This is why we believe in paediatric audiology.

How we screen kids’ hearing

Tami Mehl Audiology offers a wide range of age-appropriate testing and evaluation services for newborns, infants, toddlers, school-age children and adolescents.

To read more about newborn hearing, please click here to download a PDF.

For babies of 6 months or older, we use a mix of electrophysiological and behavioural testing to detect hearing loss. The behavioural testing used is similar to that of a standard test battery, with modifications.

To read more about types of paediatric hearing loss, please click here for a PDF.

To access our pre-school and school-aged children checklists, please click here.

Auditory processing issues

Would you say that, despite having no hearing loss, your child doesn’t seem able to process the information he or she hears, in the same way as other children?

There’s a chance that your child has Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD), a complex problem affecting school-aged children. In CAPD cases, the child’s ears and brain don’t fully coordinate and so they can’t process auditory information normally.

Symptoms of CAPD range from mild to severe and take many different forms. It is important to identify and manage these auditory deficits early on so that children with CAPD do not experience speech and language delays and other significant academic problems.

Take this quick CAPD quiz:

CENTRAL AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER (CAPD):

Does your child experience…

Difficulty hearing in noisy environments (e.g. the classroom)? Yes No
Difficulty following long conversations? Yes No
Difficulty hearing conversations on the telephone? Yes No
Difficulty learning a foreign language or challenging vocabulary words? Yes No
Difficulty remembering spoken information (i.e. auditory memory deficits)? Yes No
Difficulty taking notes? Yes No
Difficulty maintaining focus on an activity if other sounds are present? Yes No
A difficulty with organisational skills? Yes No
Difficulty following multi-step directions? Yes No
Difficulty in directing, sustaining, or dividing attention? Yes No
The difficulty with reading and/or spelling? Yes No
Difficulty processing nonverbal information (e.g. lack of music appreciation)? Yes No

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