Hearing Screening Procedures
PURE TONE SCREENING
Ages/Grades: 3 years through school age
Purpose: To identify children with suspected hearing loss.
Description: Having the child listen to a series of pure tones and note whether or not there was a response to each one. Use only “time Locked” not “random” responses.
Equipment: Pure tone audiometer.
Facilities: Quiet room/area, free from visual distractions.
Procedure:
Set Up:
- Seat the children so they cannot see the front of the audiometer.
- Remove glasses, hair bands, large earrings, etc.
- Place hair behind the ears.
- Instruct the child to raise either hand when a tone is heard.
- Set selector switch to Right.
- Set HL dial to 40 dB.
- Set frequency dial to 1000 Hz.
- Place the earphones on child's head with the red phone on the right ear and the headband flush to the head.
Screening:
- Present the 1000 Hz 40 dB tone for 1 2 seconds.
- Turn HL dial to 20 dB.
- Present tones at 1000, 2000 and 4000 Hz.
- Turn selector switch to Left.
- Present tones at 4000, 2000 and 1000 Hz.
- Set HL dial at 25 dB.
- Turn frequency dial to 500 Hz.
- Present the tone.
- Turn selector switch to Right.
- Present the tone.
- Recheck immediately if the child did not hear one or more tones.
- Place a checkmark in the proper boxes on the screening form if a child does not respond to the tone(s).
WNL: Child hears all eight tones.
Rescreen: Child who does not hear one or more tones after immediate rescreening. Child should be scheduled for rescreening in 14-21 days.
NOTE: The 500 Hz tone may be eliminated when tympanometry is included or when the ambient noise level is too high.
