Your child has a hearing loss, and you probably have a lot of questions...

For more information, please refer to http://kidshearinghealth.wustl.edu

www.ectacenter.org/

Understanding Your Child’s Audiogram

Types of Hearing Loss

There are 3 parts of the ear: the outer, middle, and inner ear.

Conductive Hearing Loss:The hearing loss is in the outer and/or middle ear

Sensorineural Hearing Loss:The hearing loss is in the inner ear

Mixed Hearing Loss:The hearing loss is in the outer/middle and inner ear

Ways to Test Your Child’s Hearing Behavioral Observation Audiometry (BOA):Audiologist looks for physical responses to sound

Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA):Audiologist looks for responses to sound through the use of lights and moving toys

Conditioned Play Audiometry (CPA):Child responds to a sound by completing a play-based task

Conventional Audiometry:Child raises hand or pushes a button when he or she hears a sound

The contents of this presentation were developed under a grant from the US Department of Education, #H325K140303. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Maryann McDermott

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What are the ‘X’s and ‘O’s on my Child’s Audiogram?

X = the softest sound heard at each pitch in the left ear

O = the softest sound heard at each pitch in the right ear

Sounds above the ‘X’s and ‘O’s are too soft for your child to hear.

Sounds below the ‘X’s and ‘O’s are heard by your child, but they are heard at a quieter vol-ume than how you may hear them.

Reading and Understanding an Audiogram

An audiogram is a graph of your child’s hearing. It graphs sounds and speech by their pitch and volume. From left to right, the graph shows different pitches. Low pitches are on the

left and high pitches on the right, similar to the keys on a piano. From top to bottom, the graph shows the loudness of a sound. Very soft

sounds are toward the top of the graph, and very loud sounds are toward the bottom.

XX

XX

XX

OO

OO

OO

X Left earO Right ear

It is important to note that all hearing losses, regardless of degree, can affect your child’s ability to develop speech and language.

Symbols

Degree of hearing lossHz

dB