Best Practice Recommendations for Infant Diagnostic Hearing Evaluation Following UNHS Referral

According to the Joint Committee of Infant Hearing (JCIH) 2007 Position Statement, all infants who meet Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) referral criteria should receive a diagnostic audiological evaluation no later than 3 months of age. Furthermore, at least one ABR evaluation is recommended as part of a complete diagnostic evaluation for children younger than 3 years. For those families who choose amplification as a component of their child’s intervention, appropriate technology should be fit within 1 month of diagnosis. JCIH states that the initial diagnostic audiology test battery should: 1) assess the integrity of the auditory system in each ear independently, even if only one ear referred 2) estimate hearing sensitivity across the speech frequency range 3) determine the type of hearing loss and 4) provide information needed to initiate amplification device fitting. In order to accomplish these goals, the following procedures are recommended for diagnostic audiological evaluation of children under 3 years of age. This test battery has been developed based on guidelines from the JCIH and the American Academy of Audiology.

Position Statement: Best Practice for Fitting Infants/ Children with Hearing Aids

This document was prepared by the Mississippi Speech-Language-Hearing Association regarding Pediatric Amplification. The specific goal of this document is to provide a set of recommendations for best practices specific to the fitting and dispensing of amplification, including verification, as part of a comprehensive treatment plan for the audiologic management of children with hearing loss. This document was compiled by reviewing current best practice recommendations by the American Academy of Audiology and American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. This position statement addresses the process of hearing aid selection, fitting, verification, and outcomes assessments. This guideline does not directly address treatment with cochlear implants, but does touch on the use of cochlear implants in conjunction with a hearing aid on the contralateral ear. This document is meant to be a guideline for how hearing aids should be selected, verified, and validated; however, the clinician should make individualized decisions for each patient. When selecting any treatment approach, the audiologist should consider and incorporate the family's goals, preferences, values, beliefs, culture, and linguistic background.