Pediatric Audiology & Counseling Flashcards

A 6-month-old fails ABR screening at 35 dB nHL in the right ear. What is the most appropriate next step?

Answer: Refer immediately for diagnostic ABR

EHDI guidelines recommend diagnostic ABR by 3 months of age for any failed newborn hearing screen.

Which counseling approach focuses on helping parents identify and reframe negative thoughts about their child's hearing loss?

Answer: Cognitive-behavioral counseling

Cognitive-behavioral counseling targets maladaptive thought patterns to improve coping in families of children with hearing loss.

A 4-year-old with sensorineural hearing loss shows aided thresholds averaging 35 dB HL across 500–4000 Hz. How is this fitting described?

Answer: Appropriately fitted

Aided thresholds averaging 30–40 dB HL are generally considered appropriate per DSL and NAL-NL2 pediatric targets.

The Ling Six Sound Test is used in pediatric audiology primarily to:

Answer: Verify hearing aid or cochlear implant function across frequencies

The Ling Six Sounds (/m/, /ah/, /oo/, /ee/, /sh/, /s/) span the speech frequency range and quickly verify device audibility.

When counseling parents who have just received a diagnosis of permanent hearing loss for their child, the audiologist's FIRST priority should be:

Answer: Acknowledging the family's emotional response

Affective counseling that validates emotions must precede informational content for effective parent communication.

Which otoacoustic emission type is most commonly used to screen newborn hearing?

Answer: Transient evoked OAE (TEOAE)

TEOAEs are widely used in newborn hearing screening due to their broad frequency coverage and ease of administration.

A child with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) will most likely show which audiologic pattern?

Answer: Present OAEs with absent or abnormal ABR

ANSD is characterized by present OAEs (indicating normal outer hair cell function) with absent or severely abnormal ABR waveforms.