Hearing services for children

Our community audiologists provide hearing services for children from birth to 19 years of age.

Good hearing is essential for speech and language development and plays an important part in a child's social and emotional growth. Recognize hearing loss early, and seek out testing and treatment.

During the first year of life:

• Most newborn babies startle or 'jump' to sudden loud noises.
• By three months, a baby usually recognizes a caregiver's voice.
• By six months, a baby can usually turn his or her eyes or head toward a sound.
• By 12 months, a child can usually imitate some sounds and make a few words, such as "Mama" or "bye-bye."

As your baby grows into a toddler (between the ages of one and three), signs of a hearing loss may include:

• No speech, making a very small amount of speech sounds, or speech that most people outside the family do not understand.
• Frequently doesn't notice when being spoken to.
• Difficulty learning. As your child grows beyond the age of five or six, other signs of hearing loss include:
• Wanting to turn the volume up for radio and TV.
• Does not respond when spoken to in your normal tone and volume of voice.

If you have a concern about your child's hearing, referrals can be made by you, or by a health or education professional to your local public health audiology (hearing) clinic.

Our audiologists provide hearing tests for children of all ages. The type of test will depend on the age of your child.

• Watch a video on audiometry testing.
• Watch a video on VRA testing.

Learn more about hearing tests for children.

Hearing aids can help your child: 

• Hear as much sound as possible to help his/her hearing system develop.
• Learn speech and language.
• Hear the teacher from a greater distance.
• Reduce the amount of verbal information they miss.
• Improve attention and focus.
• Reduce fatigue.

Our audiologists conduct a comprehensive hearing aid evaluation to ensure the appropriate hearing aid is selected. We will:

• Choose your child’s hearing aid to meet his/her needs.
• Adjust your child’s hearing aids to make sounds that he/she does not hear well louder.
• Monitor changes in your child’s hearing and discuss your child’s progress.
• Make sure the hearing aids and earmolds are working well.

The cost for two hearing aids ranges from $1400 to $3000 and is typically paid for by the family. Funding for families in need of financial assistance can be requested from various charitable organizations. Speak with your local audiologist.

• How well does my child hear?
  Hearing guideline for what to expect at each stage of life (birth to 5 years).
• Middle ear problems
  Recognize the signs of middle ear problems and ear infections.