PEDIATRIC SERVICES

We offer comprehensive hearing evaluations and hearing aid services for children age birth to eighteen. Young children can be challenging to test, as they are sometimes uncooperative or unable to provide reliable responses to sounds. It is often necessary to perform physiological tests to confirm or rule out hearing loss. These types of tests do not rely on subjective responses from the child. We can also perform basic hearing testing for those children that can provide subjective responses to what they hear.

One test we offer is Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) testing. This is an electrophysiological test used to rule out or confirm hearing loss. The child is generally sedated for this test, but infants can be tested while in natural sleep state. Audible clicks and/or tones are presented to each ear and electrodes are used to pick up small electrical signals from the brain. The signals occur in response to the clicks and/or tones. The intensity of the sound are then varied from loud to soft. If responses are present at all intensities, the child most likely has normal hearing.

Otoacoustic Emission (OAE) Testing can also be performed at our clinic. This physiological test also used to rule out hearing loss. It is a test of cochlear outer hair cell function. Tones are presented to each ear individually and echo responses are recorded. Responses within the normal range suggest normal to near normal cochlear outer hair cell function. The test usually takes 5 -1 0 minutes to complete. Children may be tested while sedated or asleep but responses can also be obtained while they are awake if they are relatively quiet.

Tympanometry, a test of middle ear and eardrum function, is routinely performed and is helpful in determining the presence or absence of eardrum or middle ear pathologies.

We at Tallahassee Ear, Nose and Throat and Audiology Associates of North Florida are committed to providing hearing healthcare for children of all ages.

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