Hearing loss test We have had more hearing tests than you can shake a stick at!  Cole has a bilateral hearing loss.  The tests started at age 2.  First they tested the sound waves in his ears and something else I can't remember.  Then, we were put in a soundproof room that was dark and we sat in the middle of the room.  The tones were not through headphones but through different speakers placed around the room.  When Cole would look in the direction of the sound, a toy would come on and make some noise or light up.  The test took FOREVER.  Now that he is older and (in theory) can follow more directions, they use the headphones and when he hears the tone, he drops a block in a bucket.  After the headphones come off, they test his hearing level in with background noise filtered in the room.  We now see a pediatric audiologist who is accustomed to dealing with special needs children.  It makes a HUGE difference but the test still takes about an hour (my NT son's takes 15 minutes).  Next up for us is a complete auditory processing evaluation also done by the ped audiologist.  Good luck and if your little guy does have a hearing loss there are many products out there to help.  Make sure your audiologist writes up recommendations for the school to use if he does indeed have a hearing loss.  I asked around a bit (I should do that more often before I post something in panic again). The hearing specialist will probably do another audiometry, and if it's as bad as this one was, they will do another test - measuring electrical changes or something...it's called electrocochleography I think. Anyone know what that looks like? My daughter's hearing was tested a couple of times at ages 1 and 2 after her tubes surgery. She did not respond to verbal directions at that age at all, so they tested her response to a toy in a soundproof room. There were also some devices that didn't require her to respond to the sound that they used, but I don't know what they were called. Audiometry sounds familiar, it might have been that.   Thanks for the replies so far. One of the girls in Jasper's class has hearing loss; from what I gathered from her mom, they'll do the test with the speakers and toys next, also as part of audiometry - it's called conditioning audiometry(or so I was told). Do they first show the child what he should be doing or just expect him to automatically look in the direction of the sound? Then, if audiometry doesn't work they'll put something in his ear and measure something...something, something, something; I really don't know what I'm talking about here Yeah, it's a lot to remember.  We've had countless tests done and I still don't remember what everything is called.  One of the tests they do when the put something in his ear will detect if the inner ear is functioning properly and if sound is passing through.  It prints out a graph and you want it to look like a mountain.  If there is a fluid build up or something else (excessive ear wax) blocking the sound, the graph will be all messed up looking.  And, if there is a blockage, then the child's hearing will be diminished.  With NT kids, they pretty much will always look where there sound is coming from.  They reinforce this idea with the toy lighting up or whatever it does.  My son never did get the concept.  It took years before we finally got a reliable reading.  It is worth it to mention the diagnosis and hopefully they will be able to work with you and your son to get a reliable test result. Also, as a side note, some children with CAPD can fail hearing tests but they really have fine hearing.  They are just not processing the sound properly.  Just a thought. How were your children tested for possible hearing loss and at what age? Was it just a regular audiogram or did they do any other tests? The reason I'm asking is, we had a hearing test this morning. It was just a regular audiogram. They observed his head movement, eye movements and general motor activity at sounds. Is this how it's usually done? I have no idea, I've never been at a hearing test before, he had one when he was younger, but that was before he lived with us. All results were normal then. This time however, the doctor looked a bit concerned and we were referred to a hearing specialist. We were told he expected mild-moderate hearing loss. The test was not performed on one of Emins best days, he hardly slept this week, was very tired, he had trouble sitting up by himself. The room was dark, warm and there were lights-a great stimming environment for Em-he was staring at lights all the time and looking like he might fall asleep any time. He did not look at the doctors, was very passive when they put headphones on and gave no reaction to any of the sounds, which included regular audio test, the doctor dropping a plastic cup right behind him, snapping his fingers behind his ears, clapping, talking, shouting, etc. How would you know that some behaviours our children exhibit are due to autism itself or due to hearing loss? I'm not in denial, and if Em does have hearing loss, that's perfectly fine, at least we'll know what we're dealing with. But I honestly think most of his behavior is a result of bad receptive language skills. He can be very passive and non responsive when he's tired, like he was when they did the hearing test. Things his doctor thinks might be connected to hearing loss: not responding to name, not responding to instructions, not responding to someone entering/leaving the room, not responding to sudden noises in his environment(for example a cup falling on floor), not turning his eyes in direction of noise, not turning his head in direction of noise, no motor activity at loud noises, no response at all when speaking directly into his ear etc. Things I think indicate clearly that he does hear and responds to sound when he's focused: responding to his name in the past(we worked a lot on that and he did respond constantly, but he lost those skills now), reacting in fear when he hears water flowing out of the pipe(at about 8m distance), laughing when his brother is making funny noises, reacting to not very loud music, covering his ears at sounds that annoy him(quiet sounds like tearing the paper, raining outside). I don't think a child with hearing loss would react to faint sounds such as these. Or would he? I know next to nothing about hearing loss, I know some theory, but my practical knowledge is very limited. With my ASD son it wasnt his hearing it was all down to his autism. We did go for a hearing check at the local hospital and the guy that was doing it was so abrupt it was not a nice experience. He was getting so short with my son and demanding he do this and that which my son clearly did not understand. Even me repeatedly telling the guy that he has developmental delay it was hopeless from start to finish! My son unfortunately got so wound up that he ended up kicking the guy between his legs hard..well im sorry but i couldnt help but chuckle as the guys red face looked so mad and i simply said ''well my son is frustrated your barking orders at him of which he does not understand'' and collected my son and left. Luckily my sons hearing is absolutely fine. But its always worth getting it checked out :) I didn't read all the responses, but when Blake had his first hearing test it went horrible.  Now I know (but didn't then) that he was on super sensory overload.  But anyway, we had to end the session because he went into a meltdown.  The tech at the time said they would try again, and if then they still couldn't get the test done they would do something similar to an EEG with the wires and stuff on his head.  I told her no way, I knew he could hear and I wouldn't put him through that.  The 2nd time wasn't good either, but they were atleast able to test enough to get a positive answer.
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