Clinic - Week # 3

This week in clinic I saw a two-year-old male who was brought in by his mother. He had started talking normally and after an ear infection suddenly stopped. He had a history of negative middle ear pressure and with the bad infection, PE tubes were put in bilaterally. His mother was worried that a hearing impairment was the reason he was not talking. Otoscopy revealed open PE tubes in both ears; although immittance revealed negative pressure bilaterally. VRA was used in the soundfield while the child sat on his mothers lap. Thresholds were found to be within the normal limits from 500 Hz to 4000 Hz. OAEs also revealed normal hearing in both ears. It was concluded that hearing was not the reason for the speech and language delay. The mother was starting him in the Birth to Three program and was encouraged to get started as soon as possible, as this is a crucial time period for speech and language development. She was also encouraged to return for further evaluation as the child got older and more adequate tests could be performed.

This article talks about two different reinforcers - a digital video disc and the conventional toy noise maker - when using VRA on the 6 month to 2 year old age group. I thought it was a good article, hope ya like it :)

Schmida, M., Peterson, H., & Tharpe A. (2003) Visual reinforcement audiometry using digital video disc and conventional reinforcers, American Journal of Audiology, 12, 35 - 40.

http://aja.asha.org/cgi/reprint/12/1/35?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=pediatric+VRA+&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT

Clinic - Week #2

This week in clinic I saw a six year old, female who was brought in by her mother. The client had failed her kindergarten screening due to negative middle ear pressure. Over the past year she had been to the doctor twice and still had negative ear pressure for some unknown reason. The mother reported some family history of hearing loss in the grandmother and grandmothers' sister. Both had hearing loss in their 50's. The mother reported that the client did well in one-on-one situations but was now worried as she was starting school. The mother was told before the client has a slight hearing loss, but wanted a second opinion and full test battery before she made any decision on amplification.

Immittance revealed negative middle ear pressure bilaterally. Puretone testing results showed a mild,"cookie bite" hearing loss with a slight conductive component. SRT scores were 100% in the right ear and 88% in the left ear when presented at 70 dB. The mother was told to return to her doctor for medical clearance and to rule out any middle ear pathologies. She was given brochures and handouts on amplification and told that amplification could help. We also told the mother if she would like to return we would be happy to talk with her about the fitting and amplification choices for her daughter. I enjoy working with this age group and I hope that we see this family back in our clinic!

This article I found is a tool for assessing parents perception of their child's hearing loss. It was given to parents of varying degrees of hearing loss. It was also used to assess speech in cochlear implant children. I thought this was an interesting article that pertained to children. Hope you like it :)

http://aja.asha.org/cgi/reprint/11/2/72?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=children+&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT

Purdy, S., Farrington, D., Moran, C., Chard, L., & Hodgson, S. (2002) A parental questionnaire to evaluate children's auditory behavior in everyday life (ABEL), American Journal of Audiology, 11, 72 - 82.

Clinic - Week #1

The first week of clinic I did not see anybody due to the Labor Day holiday and my clinic day is Monday. So, I decided to search something I was interested in; cochlear implants. I found this study that examined the use of the telephone of people who had had a cochlear implant for at least 12 months. So many of us rely on our cell phones for our daily activities such as work, school, planning appoitments, and talking to friends and family. I thought it was interesting and I enjoy reading about cochlear implants. I know we don't have the chance to work with cochlear implants much, so I thought you would enjoy reading about this topic. Hope you like it :)

Cray, J., Allen, R., Stuart, A., Hudson, S., Layman, E., & Givens, G. (2004) An investigation of telephone use among cochlear implant recipients; American Jounral of Audiology, 13, 200 - 212.

http://aja.asha.org/cgi/reprint/13/2/200?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=cochlear+implants&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT