What to Expect at Your Evaluation

Hearing evaluations typically take up to one hour and include the following tests:

  • Otoscopy: assesses the appearance ear canal and ear drum
  • Tympanometry: assesses the ear drum and middle ear to look for excessive fluid or foreign bodies
  • Pure tone testing: assesses the inner ear (i.e. cochlea) to look for the softest level sound that can be heard
  • Speech testing: assesses the impact hearing loss has on communication abilities

Hearing Aid Evaluations:

  • Lifestyle Assessment
  • Environment Assessment
  • Speech Discrimination in Noise Evaluation

Adult Evaluations:

  • Otoscopy
  • Immittance Testing
  • Otoacoustic Emissions
  • Pure Tone Testing
  • Speech Testing (in quiet and against background noise)

Auditory Processing Disorder (ADP) Evaluations:

  • Audiological Evaluation
  • Random Gap Detection
  • Speech in Noise Testing
  • Competing Words
  • Filtered Words
  • Competing Sentences
  • Time Compressed Sentences
  • Other auditory processing measurements deemed necessary based on the above testing

Pediatric Evaluations:

  • Otoscopy
  • Immittance Testing
  • Otoacoustic Emissions
  • Pure Tone Testing*
  • Speech Testing

*Any combination of the following may be used for pure tone testing depending on the age and developmental level of the child:

  • Conventional Audiometry
  • Behavioral Observation Audiometry
  • Visual Reinforcement Audiometry
  • Conditioned Play Audiometry

Tinnitus Evaluation

  • Otoscopy
  • Immittance Testing
  • Otoacoustic Emissions
  • Pure Tone Testing
  • Speech Testing (in quiet and against background noise)
  • Pitch and loudness matching of tinnitus
  • Minimum masking level testing
  • Residual inhibition testing

Tinnitus Treatment

Tinnitus refers to any sound coming from one or both ears that is not actually occurring in the environment. Treatment options include ear level devices that target both hearing loss and tinnitus simultaneously, as well as, MP3 style devices that treat tinnitus alone. At our facility, we complete evaluations specific to tinnitus and based upon those results and lifestyle assessment, assist you in selecting the best device for your needs.

Range of Audiological Services

  • Speech Audiometry
  • Pure Tone Testing
  • Otoacoustic Emissions
  • Tympanometry
  • Acoustic Reflexes
  • Conventional Audiometry
  • Behavioral Observation Audiometry (BOA)
  • Visually Reinforced Audiometry (VRA)
  • Conditioned Play Audiometry (CPA)

Cochlear Implant Evaluations

  • audiological evaluation
  • lifestyle assessment
  • subjective hearing ability and perceived aided benefit questionnaire
  • verification of current hearing technology
  • aided speech testing in quiet and in noise
  • review of treatment option

Hearing Tests for Children

Pediatric hearing tests will vary depending on the developmental age of the child. A description of each test is listed below:

Behavioral Observation Audiometry (BOA): 0 mos-6 mos

Stimulus is presented while the child is observed for responses such as body movement, eye widening, eye opening or change in sucking rate. This test is used to rule out hearing loss and related conditions.

Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA): 6 mos-36 mos

A tone, speech or music is played in order to initiate a response from the child (i.e. shifting their eyes or turning their head). When the child responds to the stimulus, they are rewarded with an interesting visual display, such as an animated toy. This test is used to rule out the potential of hearing loss, or to determine the type and degree of loss.

Play Audiometry: 3 yrs-6 yrs

A modified version of the pure tone screening procedure in which the child is conditioned to respond to the sound by placing a toy in a container. This test helps to get ear specific information about potential hearing loss, and determines how much hearing abilities are contributing to speech understanding.