Our goal is to evaluate, monitor, and provide habilitative services to children with hearing loss to enable them full access to their listening environment. When a child's hearing loss  is identified, intervention should begin immediately.

The earlier that intervention occurs the sooner he or she can receive auditory information vital for learning speech and language.

With early access to sound through the use of appropriate and consistent amplification or other hearing technology, a chid's language level can follow normal development.

Before appropriate amplification or hearing technology can be selected, an accurate diagnosis of a child's hearing loss must be obtained. A hearing evaluation can be performed at any age!

The Audiology staff at Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children can perform all of the required tests to help in the diagnosis and management of hearing loss. The tests that are administered are dependent on the age and abilities of the child.

• Multi-frequency Tympanometry - evaluates the status of the middle ear
• Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) - evaluates the status of the inner ear
• Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) testing - evaluates the peripheral hearing mechanism's response to sound (non-sedated, multifrequency, and bone conduction)  

Sunshine Cottage is committed to the early identification and intervention of hearing loss, because early access to sound is critical for the auditory brain centers to fully develop. For more information about testing, or to schedule an appointment, please email us at info@sunshinecottage.org.

Please visit the Oral Deaf Education Library for more information on hearing aids and cochlear implants and a glossaryof terms.