Hearing Assessment Case Study

Client #1

Name: Baily

Age: 2;8

Receptive

The presenting complaint for Baily is that she does not talk which can be an indication of a problem in speech or language. However, after reviewing her case history and her speech developmental milestones we are swayed to believe that Baily’s problem is a result of a language deficit. Baily babbled at 6 months, but stopped for 3 to 4 months, which can indicate a lack of auditory feedback. Baily’s mother also reported that she doesn’t use words for communication; a hearing evaluation should be sought after to investigate whether there was a lack of auditory feedback that is due to a hearing loss. In addition, a hearing loss can severely affect emerging language depending on the level of loss. Her characteristics

A speech audiometry hearing assessment is appropriate for ages 2 to 5 and thus it is a test that can be used to asses Baily’s hearing. In a speech audiometry test we can assess speech thresholds by having the child follow directions with a varying intensity of the signal (e.g, point to your shoe). If Baily doesn’t understand the commands we can evaluate her hearing by observing behavior during the evaluation. Head turn towards presented stimuli demonstrate the ability to hear the specific sounds at the specific intensity. Since speech audiometry will only reveal approximate thresholds the Ling sounds can be used to assess specific frequencies. For example, the /a/ is associated with 1000 Hertz and the /s/ is associated with hearing at 4000 Hertz. Presentation of these speech sounds at varying intensities will reveal more precise thresholds at different frequencies. It is vital to assess Baily’s hearing because of her speech development history that indicates that she was babbling at 6 months but then seized for 3-4 months after. This may indicate a lack of auditory feedback, as the child was engaging in her communication attempts and can further explain a struggle in understanding

This formal assessment uses specific normative samples for children that are 2 years 8 months. This test is age appropriate for Baily. Furthermore, the PLS-5 is a test that assesses the expressive abilities in the areas of gesture, play, social communication, and integrative language. From this assessment, we can determine whether Baily is disordered in the area of expressive language. The PLS-5 compares Baily’s performance to her same aged peers. A score of 77 or below would qualify Baily as