Hearing Aid Selection for Young Children

Abstract

As the beginning of the listening as a learned function occurs before the age of two years, it is necessary to detect the young children of suspected hearing loss. In these cases, the fitting of the hearing aid becomes a matter of necessity to learn normal speech and language.
Since 1952 the experimental investigation has been carried on over 400 children at the University of Denver Hearing Center.
The testing procedure is as follows:
At the initial session, high and low frequency noise sufficiently above the threshold is utilized to determine the child's responses. And then pure tone or filtered familiar sounds are presented to the child through the loud-speaker or the earphone, and these responses are scored. Those cases in which these sets of scores relate closely indicate the reliability of the testing procedure. As soon as the child's hearing level has been established, various hearing aids are used to determine which instrument gives him the best results.