- Speech challenges may stem from hearing issues that an audiologist can diagnose.
- Ruling out challenges with an audiologist by scheduling a hearing test before speech therapy can help speech therapists zero in on the right therapy programs.
- Undiagnosed hearing problems, even those caused by mild colds, can interfere with speech therapy and learning.
It’s hard to learn how to talk without being able to fully hear. Even mild muffling, difficulty hearing certain pitches, and middle ear fluid aberrations can unpredictably interfere with your child’s learning. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) found that mild or temporary problems can reduce a child’s ability to hear speech cues by up to 50%.
Read on to learn more about why your child should see an audiologist before starting speech therapy. If your child isn’t reproducing sounds accurately and easily, we recommend scheduling an assessment with an audiologist at Memorial Hearing before starting any speech therapy.
Why Speech-Language Pathologists Recommend a Hearing Test First
Speech-language pathologists, or SLPs, stress the importance of hearing evaluations first. This helps you rule out hearing difficulties and auditory deficiencies as potential causes.
Connecting Speech Production to Auditory Perception
Hearing tests evaluate whether auditory perception is behind problems producing speech accurately. You need to know if your child can hear clearly before you can begin to make decisions regarding treatment.
Preventing Misdiagnosis and Accelerating Therapy Results
If you skip hearing assessments, a speech therapist may misdiagnose the causes behind speech difficulties. They can focus on the wrong therapies that only partially fix speech issues or don’t provide any help at all. With a professional hearing evaluation, an audiologist can recommend targeted therapies that address hearing difficulties and lay the foundation for better speech acquisition.
Common Hearing Barriers: Middle Ear Fluid and High-Frequency Loss
Two common hearing diagnoses can lead to speech inaccuracies in toddlers: fluid accumulation behind the eardrum and high-frequency hearing loss.
Middle Ear Fluid and Temporary Muffled Hearing
If fluid collects behind your eardrum, it muffles sound, making words seem dull and like you’re listening from underwater. Even short-term fluid buildups can affect language, and chronic fluid buildup can significantly hamper learning. If your audiologist diagnoses frequent buildup, we recommend visiting an Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) doctor.
High-Frequency Hearing Loss in Toddlers
Some toddlers can only hear certain frequencies, with higher-pitched frequencies being much harder to catch. This means they can hear most sounds but can’t reliably hear higher-frequency sounds like ‘s,’ ‘f,’ ‘th,’ and ‘sh.’ An audiologist can recommend next steps to address these hearing difficulties and the resulting struggles with speech production.
What Happens During a Pediatric Hearing Evaluation
A pediatric hearing evaluation with an audiologist can seem scary for children and parents. But audiologists can conduct quick and comfortable hearing evaluations. Through interactive play sessions, audiologists can uncover potential hearing concerns and start a journey to better hearing and speaking.
Child-Friendly Diagnostic Methods
Audiologists use child-friendly testing options that don’t require children to stay still for long periods or feel stressed.
- Otoacoustic Emissions Testing evaluates a child’s response to an array of quiet sounds. This is popular for infants.
- Conditioned Play Audiometry is a hearing test for toddler speech delay based on an interactive game in which children respond, or don’t respond, to different auditory cues.
Audiologists can use these testing methods and specific techniques within either category to identify different potential hearing difficulties. With this information, you can decide on the best course of action for your child’s future learning.
Schedule a Hearing Test Before Starting Speech Therapy
Hearing tests before speech therapy are a simple way to uncover potential hearing difficulties that may be behind your child’s speech learning difficulties. By scheduling a hearing evaluation before beginning speech therapy, you can improve their learning path, address hearing problems that can affect their overall learning and attention, and gain more insight into their ear health.
Reach out to Memorial Hearing today to schedule a pediatric hearing appointment. Our team is available online or over the phone to answer your questions.
Image credit: // Shutterstock // Nejron Photo