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Hearing Impairments when a problem or damage occurs to one or more parts of the ear. "Hearing Impairment" is classified by hearing that is less than normal. One in Eight children in the Untied States 12 and up have some sort of hearing impairment or even total hearing loss. Hearing impairments can be total hearing loss or partial due to aging, noise damage, head trauma, etc.

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Teaching resources for Hearing Loss, Local Level

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Teaching resources for Hearing Loss, Local Level

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The closest school for the hearing impaired is the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, the website showcases the accommodations they make for each and every one of their students.

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Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf

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Eastern NC School for the Deaf is located in Wilson, NC.

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Conductive Hearing Loss, this type of hearing loss happens when sounds or tones cannot get through the outer or middle ear this results in a hearing loss of soft sounds as well as louder sounds being muffled.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss, this type of hearing loss is caused by damage to the inner ear.  This hearing loss more often than not is permanent. It can occur in all ages but in adults it is typically caused by include aging and exposure to very loud noise. In children it is caused by abnormalities in the structure of the ear or infections that take place in the ear.

Mixed Hearing Loss, is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. It can be caused by an injury, infection, or a genetic disorder.

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Parenting resources for Hearing Impaired, Local Level

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Parenting resources for Hearing Impaired, Local Level

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This is a service right here at East Carolina University that goes throng testing and informing the child as well as the parents on the routes to take once their child has been diagnosed with a hearing impairment.

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Hearing Tests for Adults

During this appointment we will:

Discuss your primary concerns and your experience with hearing difficulties

Examine your outer ear and ear canal

Perform a comprehensive hearing evaluation to determine hearing sensitivity and location in hearing system of damage associated with hearing loss

Review the results with you including management options for hearing loss and need for medical referral, if required.

Hearing Tests for Children

Hearing evaluations for children will vary based on the child's age.

For those under 6 months of age:

Special hearing tests are performed (e.g., auditory brainstem response and/or otoacoustic emission testing).

These tests require the infant to be asleep and/or resting quietly for approximately 30-45 minutes.

The audiologist will give you specific instruction prior to the appointment.

For those over 6 months of age:

Testing will be conducted in a sound booth and may include presenting sounds through speakers and recording the child's responses to visual stimulus and/or having the child play games with the audiologist while the child is listening through earphones.

Hearing Aid Services

Services related to hearing aids can include:

Hearing aid consultations

Hearing aids for purchase including fitting and orientation

Follow-up hearing aid services (programming, maintenance, troubleshooting).

During a hearing aid consultation, we will:

Discuss the results of your hearing evaluation

Review your hearing health needs and experience with hearing difficulties, and discuss interests in hearing aids, other assistive devices, and other aural rehabilitation activities (auditory training, communication strategies).

Review options for styles and pricing and recommend options best suited for you.

If you currently wear hearing aids, please bring them with you. We may decide additional listening tests are needed to make the best recommendation.

Tinnitus Evaluation and Care

During a tinnitus evaluation, we will:

Complete a comprehensive hearing evaluation, if one has not previously been conducted.

Discuss your primary concerns, determine the history and nature of your tinnitus, and review the impacts of the tinnitus.

Overview theories of underlying causes of tinnitus and discuss management options for tinnitus and possible need for additional professional referrals.

Vestibular Evaluations (inner ear balance system)

A vestibular evaluation is conducted to help determine the cause for your dizziness and/or imbalance. During the test:

You will wear video goggles which are used to record your eye movements.

here are 3 parts of the test. The first part involves you following lights with your eyes. The second part involves you lying in various body positions on a medical examination table. During the third part, your ears will be irrigated with water so that we can measure your balance response.

You are asked to wear comfortable clothing because you will be moving on an examination table. You are asked to avoid makeup and body lotions because it will negatively impact our recordings. You must be accompanied by someone who can drive you home, if needed, as parts of the testing may cause dizziness.

Vestibular Evaluation Preparation Instructions (pdf)

Auditory Processing Evaluation

This testing is completed with children and adults 7 years of age and older.

"Auditory processing" refers to the way sounds are analyzed and interpreted in the central auditory nervous system (auditory pathways from the brainstem to the cortex).

We offer auditory processing evaluations for children and adults with normal hearing, normal cognition, intelligible speech, and whose first language is English. The reason for this is that the normative data for our tests is based on these factors. During an auditory processing evaluation:

A hearing evaluation will be performed, if not previously conducted.

Additional testing may include up to 5-6 different listening tests in a sound booth.

Assistive Listening Device Services

These are devices, other than hearing aids, that help people with hearing loss hear better at long distances (large room systems), alert them to sounds (louder ringers, flashing lights, vibrators), or help them to better use the telephone (amplifiers) or television (amplified headsets).

Services offered at our clinic include an evaluation to discuss devices other than hearing aids that may be of benefit as well as the fitting and orientation of these devices. Many times, this evaluation and process are part of a hearing aid evaluation.

Cochlear Implant Services

Services related to cochlear implants include:

Cochlear implant evaluations

Mapping appointments

Cochlear implant device troubleshooting

Services related to the maintenance of your cochlear implant devices.

During a cochlear implant evaluation, we will:

Discuss the difficulties you are experiencing with your hearing

Examine your ears

Perform a hearing evaluation

Complete a number of tests with and without hearing aids.

If you own and/or wear hearing aids, please bring them with you to the appointment.

Auditory Rehabilitation for Hearing Loss

We can provide individual and/or group sessions on strategies to incorporate for those with hearing loss. This may include sessions on the way we communicate with others and how that interacts with a hearing loss.

Hearing Conservation

We provide services for those interested in hearing conservation testing services and related programs.

Ear Impressions for Swim Plugs or Noise Reduction Earplugs

Ear impressions are taken of one or both ears and we send them to an earmold company. The earmold company uses the impressions to make the actual swimplugs or earplugs.

Our services include: evaluating the need for these and making recommendations, making the earmold impressions, and fitting the devices.

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Hearing Services | ECU Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic

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During this appointment we will: Discuss your primary concerns and your experience with hearing difficulties Examine your outer ear and ear canal Perform a comprehensive hearing evaluation to determine hearing sensitivity and location in hearing system of damage associated with hearing loss Review the results with you including management options for hearing loss and need for medical referral, if required.

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Physical Exams, your doctor can take a look in your ear for any possible causes of hearing impairment, these can be anything from earwax or an infection to possible structural problems or damage of a part of the ear.

Audiometer tests, this tests is conducted by an audiologist or your local doctor during this test you wear earphones and sounds are played that are directed to each one of your ears. These sounds are repeated at different levels and tend to get more faint for the doctor to find the quietest tone you are able to hear.

Tympanometry Tests, this test is used to tell the way your eardrum moves. The audiologist or your local doctor will put a small probe into each one of your ears. This instrument will push air into your ear and will tell whoever is preforming the test if the arm drum is moving properly.

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Teaching resources for Hearing Loss, State Level

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Teaching resources for Hearing Loss, State Level

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This is the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, it addresses where to go for help for a hearing impaired children as well as focusing on the divisions of the health department that are designed for these children.

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Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

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The Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing provides you with the information, skills and tools you need to achieve effective communication and access to resources in your community for independence and full participation in society.

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Parenting resources for Hearing Impaired, State Level

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Parenting resources for Hearing Impaired, State Level

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This is the website for New Born screening in North Carolina, My mother happens to be the Genetic Counselor in North Carolina so she goes through all the children born in North Carolina with any abnormal levels on the newborn screening which includes a early hearing detection test.

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Physician's Role and Responsibilities in Childhood Hearing Loss

Hearing loss is the most prevalent permanent disability encountered by physicians treating children. The commonly accepted statistic from the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing is 3 per 1,000 of the newborn population will have a hearing loss. Additionally, another 2 to 3 per 1,000 children will acquire a hearing loss after birth.

Hearing Screening in North Carolina

North Carolina passed legislation (PDF, 106 KB) to require birthing hospitals to screen hearing in 1999 and most hospitals began such screening in 2000. Therefore, the vast majority of infants entering a medical practice in North Carolina will have received a hearing screening at their birthing facility. Results of the Newborn Hearing Screening are sent to the primary care medical practice serving an infant by the birthing facility. Results can also be obtained directly from the NC Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program office.

Types of Hearing Screeners and Results

Most initial hearing screenings are conducted with an Automated Auditory Brainstem Response (AABR) screener, although some hospitals use an Oto-Acoustic Emission (OAE) screener. Both methods screen mid to high frequency sounds. An AABR screening tests the responsiveness of the complete auditory system from the ear to the brain whereas an OAE screening results stem from Outer Hair Cell response in the cochlea. It is possible, although rare, for a baby to pass an OAE screening but still have a condition of hearing loss called Auditory Neuropathy/Dsynchrony. In this condition the auditory signal does not arrive in the brain in a synchronus manner and the child will hear a very distorted signal. Thus, the child may not meet speech and language developmental expectations. Read questions (PDF, 49 KB) concerning the physician's role in the follow-up of an infant who did not pass newborn hearing screening.

Pediatric Practice Hearing Screening

The NC Division of Public Health recommends that medical practices serving young children provide regular physiologic hearing screening at least for children at risk for acquired hearing loss. Consultation for such screening can be obtained from your area EHDI Regional Consultant (PDF, 149 KB). These screenings should be done in conjunction with normal developmental assessment.

Outcomes of Hearing Screening

Early identification of hearing loss resulting from Newborn Hearing Screening and other subsequent physiologic hearing screenings in conjunction with improved amplification technology has resulted in vastly improved expected outcomes for infants and toddlers with hearing loss. The NC Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Program's goals are to ensure that all hearing impaired babies are identified by one month of age, are diagnosed by three months, and have received amplification and/or intervention in place by six months. If these goals are met, the majority of hearing impaired children can develop normal speech and language skills and function optimally in the hearing world.

Referrals

North Carolina has a support system for families of young children with hearing loss. The first step is to identify and diagnose the hearing loss and to complete any necessary medical treatment.If hearing loss is diagnosed, the following referrals should be made using the Permission for Referral Form (PDF, 139 KB; Spanish version):

1. Children's Developmental Services Agencies - CDSA

2. Early Learning Sensory Support Program for Children with Hearing Impairments

3. BEGINNINGS for Parents of Children Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Audiology Results

In the event that a child in your practice needs to be referred to an audiologist for an evaluation, there are certain results you should expect. It is important that a child be evaluated by a Pediatric Audiologist (PDF, 212 KB). Your EHDI Regional Consultant (PDF, 149 KB) can provide you with the names of such practices in your area. For information concerning what you should expect from a child's audiological evaluation, please see the North Carolina Pediatric Diagnostic Audiology Protocol.

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early hearing detection and intervention program

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N.C. DPH: Early Hearing Detection and Intervention: Healthcare Professionals

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Hearing loss is the most prevalent permanent disability encountered by physicians treating children. The commonly accepted statistic from the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing is 3 per 1,000 of the newborn population will have a hearing loss. Additionally, another 2 to 3 per 1,000 children will acquire a hearing loss after birth.

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Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: E7720. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720. (n.d.). doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f

Https://kujss.iraqjournals.com/pdf_166170_8dd024058ce4abb6c364bec514cecef8.html. (2020). Kirkuk University Journal-Scientific Studies,15(2), 1-16. doi:10.32894/kujss.2019.15.2.1

Raising a child with hearing loss. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.oticon.com/your-hearing/children-with-hearing-loss/raising-children-with-hearing-loss

Types of Hearing Loss. (2020, June 08). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hearingloss/types.html

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Removing Ear Blockages, blockages can be caused by a foreign object in the ear as well as an excess of earwax that can result in hearing loss in one of both ears.  Your doctor can remove the excess earwax or the foreign object using suction or a small tool.

Hearing Aids,  If there is damage to your inner ear, then a hearing aid can be beneficial

Cochlear Implants, people who have more severe hearing loss may not benefit from a hearing aid but may benefit more from a cochlear implant.  The cochlear implant amplifies sound and directs it directly into your ear canal and goes straight to the hearing nerve in the ear.

Surgery, certain types of hearing impairments can be treated with surgery, these can include fluid in the ears which the doctor will insert tubes to help drain or damage to the ear drum and canal can also sometimes be fixed by surgery.

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Parenting resources for Hearing Impaired, National Level

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Parenting resources for Hearing Impaired, National Level

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This video shares what parents should know and look for as their child grows up and how to know if they are dealing with a Hearing Impairment.

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The Austin Diagnostic Clinic (ADCHealth)

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What parents should know about hearing loss in children - ADC Video

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Teaching resources for the Hearing Loss, National Level

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Teaching resources for the Hearing Loss, National Level

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This video gives tips for accommodating children with hearing impairments. It addresses how to identify and how to have them feel included.

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Tips for teaching deaf children with a mild hearing loss