Hearing Screening & Models
This model emphasizes hearing loss as a physiological malfunction.
Medical model
By this week, the fetal auditory system is functional.
~20 weeks
What developmental phenomenon causes infants to lose sensitivity to non-native phonemic contrasts by 10-12 months?
Perceptual narrowing
Why is 1000 Hz tympanometry preferred for newborns under 3 months?
Name one strategy for accommodating a child with visual impairment in VRA?
use a tactile reinforcer instead of a visual reinforcer
The term for developing a skill never acquired.
Habilitation
The ear begins to form from this early gestational feature around week 4.
Otic placode
A toddler confuses /s/ and /sh/ in isolation, but not in words. Why might they correctly identify the sounds in real words?
lexical context cues
A 1‑month‑old has normal 226‑Hz tymps, but flat 1000‑Hz tymps. What does this indicate?
226‑Hz results are false normals for this age; true ME dysfunction is likely present.
The minimum number of conditioning responses before moving into VRA testing?
2 clear head turn trials during conditioning
A baby passes UNHS but shows signs of delayed speech later. Give one reason this may still be a hearing‑related concern.
Progressive or neural loss (e.g., ANSD) may not be detected by newborn OAEs.
Why do infants have higher thresholds than adults during early infancy (0–6 months)?
Immature conductive pathway (mass‑dominated ME, ear canal changes)
A child correctly differentiate between “moo” and “baa,” but is to identify which is "moo" from a set. Which auditory skill level are they in?
If ABR thresholds appear elevated but OAEs are normal, what type of pathology should you suspect?
ANSD
What is the primary role of the test assistant in VRA?
False positive
Explain why late amplification (after 12 months) increases risk for cross‑modal reorganization.
Lack of auditory input during sensitive periods leads cortical areas to be recruited for vision/touch.
This type of learning helps babies segment the continuous signal of speech.
Statistical learning
In infants, how should you hold their ear during otoscopy?
Pull pinna down and back
Why were the six sounds of the LING 6 chosen?
The sounds span the frequency range of all phonemes
A 2‑week‑old infant referred on UNHS and has a Type B tympanogram (1000 Hz) today. Based on this data alone, what is the most likely cause of the screening refer?
Temporary conductive dysfunction (e.g., fluid) rather than sensorineural loss.
It improves with development, reflected in a smaller MAA, meaning older children can localize more similarly to adults.
Babies show early preference for mother's voice which has been indexed using what kind of paradigm?
Non-nutritive sucking paradigm where higher sucking rate is associated with preference.
An infant’s WAI shows low absorbance across 1–3 kHz and normal absorbance below 500 Hz. What pathology matches this pattern?
Middle ear effusion (adds mass → reduces mid‑frequency absorbance)