Audiology Services
The Audiology Program is part of the Hearing and Speech Clinic at Children's Mercy.
Audiology is an area of health care that works with hearing, balance and related problems. Audiologists are health care workers who diagnose, manage and treat hearing problems.
My trip to the audiologist
Take a look at this social story designed by Children's Mercy's Audiology team to help your child prepare for their visit.
Hearing Tests
There are many ways to test your child’s hearing. The audiologist will perform the type of test that is most appropriate for your child’s age or developmental readiness.
Early intervention is extremely helpful in helping your child manage their hearing loss as soon as possible. An audiologist can perform hearing tests for children as young as newborns to help identify and address hearing loss from a very early age.
Auditory Brainstem Response Test (ABR)
This is a test that measures how your child’s brain responds to sound because they are too young to tell us using other tests. Your child will need to sleep for this test. To help prepare them to sleep, we ask that you be sure they haven’t just napped before their appointment and try to plan their feeding when you arrive.
You will be able to hold your child during the test. The audiologist will rub an area on the forehead and behind each ear with a small pad. Small electrodes will be placed in those areas. The electrodes pick up the brain’s response to sound. We use small earphones to send the sounds to your child’s ears.
The audiologist will be looking at waveforms that happen when your child’s brain receives the sound. They will be able to tell you about your child’s hearing once all the testing is completed.
Sometimes older children need this test too. If children can't fall asleep on their own for testing, the test may be scheduled with sedation or along with any other procedures your child may be having at Children’s Mercy.
Visual Reinforcement Audiometry
This hearing test is done in the sound booth. Your child will be taught to listen to sounds and respond by turning toward the sound, which is either coming from a speaker in the room or from earphones your child will wear. Your child is rewarded for responding with an animated toy that lights up near the speaker. This reward keeps the test fun for your child and helps the audiologist get the information they need. Your child will be tested while sitting in your lap or on their own as they are older.
Conditioned Play Audiometry
By this age, many children understand how to respond to sound by doing a task every time they hear a sound. They may drop a block in a bucket, put a peg in a pegboard, stack blocks, or respond using an iPad with a program called HearPlay which makes this a fun game. HearPlay is an app that was developed by an audiologist at Children’s Mercy Hospital.
Conventional Audiometry
Your child is taught to push a button, clap their hands, or raise their hand when they hear a sound, much like an adult would during their hearing test.
There are other tests that are given to help us know how your child is hearing. These may be done during any of the other types of hearing tests.
Tympanometry
This test measures how well your child’s eardrums are moving and tells us if there is any stuffiness in the ear that might be causing your child a hearing problem. A small probe that we often call our “ear camera” is placed in the ear canal. The test doesn’t hurt, but sometimes children don’t like their ears being touched. We call it a camera so we can make an “ear picture” and make it fun. This test should only take a few seconds for each ear.
Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE)
This test measures how your child’s inner ear is working without them telling us. We often do this test with other tests to help us know more about your child’s hearing. A small probe with a soft ear tip is placed in your child’s ear for this test. They hear sounds and their ear tells us about how the sound was heard. The test only takes a couple of minutes on each ear to complete. Your child must allow the probe to be placed in their ear. It’s not painful, but if your child doesn’t like their ears being touched, they may not like this test.
Types of Hearing Loss
Your child’s hearing test might show that they do have a hearing loss. The types of hearing loss are:
Conductive – a conductive hearing loss is caused by a problem in the outer or middle ear that is not allowing sound to travel to the inner ear. This type of hearing loss is generally medically treatable and is often temporary, but can be permanent.
Sensorineural – a sensorineural hearing loss is due to a hearing problem with the inner ear. This type of hearing loss is usually permanent and is not medically treatable.
Mixed – mixed hearing losses are a combination of both a conductive and sensorineural type.
When hearing loss can’t be medically treated by surgery or antibiotics, a hearing aid may be recommended. A hearing aid will help your child by amplifying the sounds that are difficult for them to hear. The goal of a hearing aid is to provide your child with access to all speech sounds. This will help minimize delays in speech and language development that a hearing loss may cause.
Hearing Aid Services
Hearing Aid Consultation
If your child needs a hearing aid for one or both ears, they will be scheduled for a hearing aid consultation appointment. We will talk about which hearing aid is best for their hearing loss. Children’s Mercy offers hearing aids from several hearing aid companies. You will also need an appointment with an ENT specialist. It is a state law that children be medically cleared by a physician before we can fit the hearing aid.
Hearing Aid Fitting
Your child’s earmolds and hearing aids will be fitted during this appointment. The hearing aids are specifically programmed to their ears and hearing loss. The audiologist will test to be sure your child is able to hear speech sounds. We will teach you how to help your child use their hearing aids during this appointment.
Please understand that we are unable to fit any hearing aid without medical clearance. Your child’s health insurance also requires prior authorization before we can fit any hearing aid.
Hearing Aid Check
Your child will come in for a hearing aid check appointment approximately every six months for the first several years that they wear a hearing aid. As your child’s hearing becomes stable and they are more comfortable using their hearing aid, you may not need to come in as often for a check-up.
At each check-up, we will test your child’s hearing to monitor for any changes. We will also check their hearing aids to see if they need any adjustments. Your child’s earmolds will also be checked to ensure they are fitting properly. Your child may also be tested in the sound booth with their hearing aids on.
Bone Anchored Hearing Systems/Osseointegrated Hearing Devices
Standard hearing aids aren’t the best treatment option for all types of hearing loss. We have a special team committed to the evaluation and fitting of hearing devices that fall into a category called Bone Anchored Hearing Systems. These are for hearing losses that involve absence or malformation of the outer ear, ear canal or middle ear; other conductive hearing losses; and single-sided deafness. These devices can either be worn on a soft band or can be implanted surgically once your child reaches a certain age. These systems use bone conduction to provide sound rather than air conduction like a traditional hearing aid.
HearPlay App
Children’s Mercy Kansas City has recently released an innovative app for audiologists and other hearing professionals called HearPlay™. The app is a suite of games designed to make hearing testing in children more fun and engaging.