Audiology

The Audiology staff at Nemours Children's Clinic in Orlando uses state-of-the-art technology and specialized pediatric testing techniques to assess a child's hearing sensitivity. Hearing can be evaluated at any age, beginning at birth with a newborn infant hearing screening. Nationally board certified and state licensed audiologists evaluate each child's hearing to determine if a hearing loss is present and the nature of the hearing loss. When a hearing loss is identified, appropriate recommendations are made for intervention and habilitation. This may include the evaluation and dispensing of hearing aids or other assistive listening devices, which are custom fit for the patients who receive benefit from amplification. The staff also counsels families of hearing impaired children regarding intervention and educational options available in their community. The pediatric audiologists work closely with the Otolarynologists in the ENT division to provide comprehensive diagnosis and treatment/intervention recommendations for optimal hearing healthcare.

A child's hearing should be tested immediately if there are any risk factors for hearing loss, including a family history of hearing loss; ear, head or neck malformations; head trauma; history of anoxia or infection at birth; history of the use of ototoxic medications; recurrent otitis media (ear infections), or speech and language developmental delays. If any change is noticed in in a child's hearing - for example, listening to the television loudly, talking loudly, or not responding when their name is called - a hearing evaluation should be accomplished promptly. If a child has trouble identifying where a sound is coming from or tips the head to one side to hear, a loss in one ear (unilateral hearing loss) may be present. Early identification of hearing loss is crucial for the development of speech and language and no child is too young to be tested!

Services Available:

• Hearing screenings
• Diagnostic audiologic evaluations
• Auditory brainstem response (ABR or BAER) evaluations, sedated or unsedated
• Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) testing
• Tympanometiy and stapedial reflex testing
• Auditory process evaluations
• Hearing aid evaluations, dispensing, and related services
• Assistive listening devices (FM systems, etc.)
• Counseling regarding hearing loss and habilitation
• Referrals to otolaryngologists, genetic counselors, speech-language pathologists, and other appropriate developmental, educational, and medical specialists

Typical Diagnoses/Problems:

• Inflammation of the middle ear: otitis media
• Conductive hearing loss
• Cochlear hearing loss
• Neural or retro-cochlear hearing loss
• Sensori-neural hearing loss
• Mixed hearing loss
• Auditory processing disorders

Additional Resources:

Nemours is committed to keeping children and parents informed of the latest medical information. The audiology division provides a wide variety of pamphlets, articles, and videos to assist parents in learning more about their child's condition and treatment. Nemours also suggests the following resources and organizations where parents can obtain additional information:

• The Self-Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc.
• The American Academy of Audiology
• The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
• Local, State, and National Resources for Hearing Impairment