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Older woman receiving a hearing assessment, illustrating hearing screening vs hearing test.

What’s the Difference Between a Hearing Screening and a Hearing Test?

The television is a little louder than it used to be, and conversations across the dinner table take more effort to follow. These changes can be easy to brush aside, especially when you still hear most sounds around you. Once you decide to have your hearing checked, you might not know whether a quick screening or a full hearing test is the right option for you. When you’re weighing hearing screening vs hearing test options, the main difference is how much information you get. A screening checks whether further testing may be needed. A full hearing test investigates your hearing in

My Child Passed Their Hearing Test but Still Struggles: Understanding Auditory Processing Disorder

It is a conversation we have often, usually in September or October. A teacher has raised a concern; the child does not seem to be listening, misses instructions, or falls behind when the classroom gets noisy. A hearing test is arranged, the results come back normal, and the family is left with the same question they started with: if the hearing is fine, what is going on? For some of these children, the answer may be auditory processing disorder (APD). Photo by CDC What Is Auditory Processing Disorder? Auditory processing disorder (APD), also called central auditory processing disorder, affects how the

a student struggling to hear in a classroom

How Can Hearing Difficulties Affect a Child at School

A child may follow conversations easily at home but struggle to understand a teacher in a busy classroom. They might copy what another student is doing, miss part of an assignment, or give an answer that doesn’t match the question. These moments can look like distraction or confusion, even when the child is trying hard to keep up. Hearing difficulties at school can affect much more than a child’s ability to notice sounds. They may influence learning, classroom participation, friendships, confidence, and energy levels. Because the signs aren’t always obvious, parents and teachers may not immediately realize that hearing could be

a hearing aid fitting appointment with a audiologist showing the patient how to put in his hearing aid

What Happens During a Hearing Aid Fitting and Follow Up

Choosing hearing aids can feel like the biggest step in improving your hearing. Once you’ve selected the devices, you may expect to put them on, turn them on and head home. Hearing aids need more preparation than that. They have to be programmed for your hearing, checked while you’re wearing them and adjusted so they feel comfortable. A hearing aid fitting is the appointment where those pieces come together. Your audiologist sets up the devices, verifies how they’re performing and teaches you how to use them. You’ll then try them during your regular activities and return for follow up care based

The Ontario Infant Hearing Program: A Parent’s Guide to Newborn Hearing Screening

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash Few things matter more to new parents than knowing their baby is healthy. Among the screening tests offered shortly after birth, the newborn hearing screening is one of the most important yet often overlooked. Hearing plays a critical role in a child’s early development, supporting speech and language acquisition, communication, learning, and social interaction. Identifying any hearing differences as early as possible gives families and healthcare professionals the best opportunity to provide timely support. Ontario has had a universal newborn hearing screening program in place since the early 2000s, delivered through the Infant Hearing Program

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ECHOES FROM ANCIENT CAVES

Recent research may provide new insights into humans’ closest extinct relative, the Neanderthals. One of the many ways that Neanderthal anatomy differed from our own came to light after a fossilized ear bone from a young Neanderthal child was discovered. The findings included a skull, jaw, vertebrae, ribs, and hand phalanges. But what was most interesting was a very complete left temporal bone with an auditory ossicle inside, including a complete “stapes.” This bone, which lies in the middle ear of humans and other mammals, conducts sound vibrations to the inner ear. In Neanderthals, the stapes was decidedly different in its

HOW HEARING AFFECTS THE BRAIN

Hearing loss has the potential to affect health and well-being in ways some might never have imagined. A recent study indicated that older individuals with hearing loss have accelerated loss of brain tissue as well as a higher risk of dementia, falls, hospitalizations, and poor physical and mental health. The study tracked 126 participants for up to a decade. Each participant underwent yearly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to trace and monitor brain changes. During that time, researchers found that those with hearing loss at the beginning of the study had a higher rate of brain degeneration than those who experienced normal

OUT OF SIGHT, TOTALLY IN MIND

The greatest advantage of a completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing aid is that it can be worn virtually undetected. For this reason alone, CIC instruments are among the most popular choices for those who are in need of their unique properties. Not only do CICs have a cosmetic advantage, they have also been noted to impart the acoustic advantages of greater directional sensitivity and localization. What this means for the wearer is that the unique placement of CICs within the ear help to better locate sounds. This is because the hearing instrument takes advantage of the cup-like shape of the outer ear and

SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION

In a crowded restaurant, people often blame their inability to hear their conversation partner on loud background noise. While this may be true for most situations, some folks, however, may be deceiving themselves into thinking that they do not have a hearing problem. Until an appointment is scheduled with an audiologist to test hearing levels, there is no way to know whether a person’s hearing challenges are caused by a loud environment or is a direct result of hearing loss. Once someone schedules an appointment to have their hearing tested, a Doctor of Audiology can determine whether a blockage (such as

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