Hearing Excellence offers Paediatric Hearing Tests meant for infants and young children. It is like a physical examination of your ears; its purpose is to understand the overall auditory health and well-being of your ears without being invasive. Hearing tests are conducted in a soundproof room known as a Sound Booth.

The pediatric hearing test (6 months – 5 years) will assess the listening ability (hearing thresholds) of all patients. Speech testing, the patient’s comprehensive ability and speech intelligibility, will also be tested for all patients, but to what degree depends on the age and capabilities of the individual. These tests let us know the softest sounds the patient is able to hear, as well as let us test for speech awareness and understanding.

Getting tested early is important! The sooner you start monitoring your hearing health, the more comprehensive your hearing health history will be. This better prepares the audiologist, allowing them to have a better understanding of the nature and reason behind the patient’s hearing loss or any other audiological concerns. With a better understanding, our audiologists can provide you with a more comprehensive treatment plan, working to prevent the worsening of the patient’s condition or finding a solution for it.

This is done by performing the various tests listed below:

Different Hearing Tests for Children as they Grow

Infants and Toddlers (6 months – 2.5 years old)

Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (VRA)

This test uses different pitched sounds and visuals to assess if there is hearing loss and the degree of the hearing loss. In this test, tones at varied specified pitches are presented, either through earphones/headphones or loudspeakers.

Those tones are presented with visuals (animated toys or videos) allowing the child to associate the tone they hear with an exciting visual. This association means the child, once they hear the tone, will respond by looking at the visual. This conditioned response allows the clinician to test hearing thresholds across different frequencies.

Young Children and Preschoolers (2.5 year – 5 years old)

Conditioned Play Audiometry (CPA)

This test uses different pitched sounds and toys to assess if there is hearing loss and the degree of the hearing loss. In this test, tones at varied specified pitches are presented, either through earphones/headphones or loudspeakers. The child performs a game-like activity every time a sound is heard. For example, a child will be prompted to drop a block in a bucket or clap whenever a sound is heard. This game-like activity allows the clinician to test hearing thresholds across different frequencies.