Behavioral Hearing Assessment: Considerations for the Young Child with Developmental Disabilities

ABSTRACT

The current trend in audiological practice is to see children for diagnostic evaluation at earlier ages. From an audiological perspective, the influence of developmental delay on the selection of age-appropriate assessment tools must be considered. For newborns and young infants (< 6 months), a physiologic measure is the approach of choice. Older infants and children, however, can be tested efficiently and effectively with both behavioral and physiologic measures. It is possible to approach the behavioral assessment of infants and young children through operant conditioning paradigms, specifically through an operant discrimination procedure. Visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA) and conditioned play audiometry (CPA) are valid and reliable test procedures for infants and young children in need of initial and on-going assessment as long as the child's developmental age is appropriate for the test procedure selected. The success of either technique is related to the developmental status of the child being examined. This article examines the relationships among chronologic age, corrected age, and developmental age on behavioral assessment, and addresses factors one should consider when assessing infants and young children with VRA and CPA.

KEYWORDS

Infant hearing - behavioral hearing assessment - developmental disability

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