This past Monday I took Natalie up to Chapel Hill for her first hearing test with amplification. We weren’t sure what to expect. The best testing for babies is between 6-9 months of age and it is all behavioral testing.
We started off with what is called a bone conduction test. This is a conditioning test to see if Natalie is old enough and understands how to do the actual hearing test .They put a headband type thing (shown below) over Natalie’s head. There is a black piece behind her right ear that when sound is presented, it will vibrate all the bones in the skull. Everytime the sound came through and vibrated behind her ear, they trained Natalie to turn her head and then she was rewarded with lights and toy animals that moved. (in the 4 black boxes.) The audiologist was impressed with how well she did since she is just 6 months. Natalie is a very alert and smart baby.
Since she was able to do that test, we moved on to the real hearing test. They then put her molds back in her ear and hooked her up to amplification and proceeded to do the same testing, this time with sound. When Natalie was first diagnosed with hearing loss, she was put into the severe/profound category, because they tested her up to 90 decibels and Natalie could not hear at that level. Pat, our audiologist, would sit on the other side of the window from us and a graduate student was in the booth with Natalie and I distracting Natalie with toys so if she heard something, she would then turn her head toward the sound and again see the lights and animals. Natalie would not turn her head to any sound, but when the bone conduction was placed back on and done simultaneously with the sound, she would turn her head to the vibration.
They tested her up to 110 decibels which is really loud (normal hearing is between 0-25 decibels) and we still did not see any responses and we know how she was reacting from the bone conduction test, that she was aware of the vibration, and if she heard 110 decibels, she would have turned her head as well. It just helps us move more quickly to get the cochlear implant.
I was able to talk with our ENT as well that day and discussed Natalie’s time table to get her first implant. We are thinking age 10 months which would be in January. I have an appointment in Durham next month with the cochlear implant team and then another booth testing in Chapel Hill in November. Our audiologist in Chapel Hill has been awesome, but she just works with diagnosing and babies/children with hearing aids. If a child needs an implant, they transition over to the implant team in Durham (these audiologists are trained to just work with children that have cochlear implants) when they are getting ready for their implant. I will be so sad to leave Chapel Hill and will for sure drop in on them and say hi whenever we have ENT appointments since they are in the same office, but we are excited to move forward. So, hopefully by our October visit, we will “pencil in” a surgery date. I can’t wait to get that on my calendar!
We were lucky to have Nana come for a quick visit and to help watch the other kids while I went to Chapel Hill. Here they are, all dolled up before church.
COMMENTS:
That's great news that Natalie may get her implants in January. And I love the picture with all the kids and Nana.... Dylan's smile is hilarious. He almost looks a little mischievous. :)
Thursday, September 23, 2010 - 10:04 AM
I wish I was still there! I miss you and Tim and my absolutely adorable grandchildren! They are all so smart and gorgeous. Tell them Nana loves them.
Sunday, October 10, 2010 - 08:55 AM
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