Hearing Testing

A hearing test is needed if you think you may have hearing problem or you have trouble listening and understanding.  

Download our Five-Minute Hearing Test Questionnaire to see if you may need to visit an audiologist.  A version of the Five-Minute Hearing Test is also available in Spanish.

Children: 

A hearing test is needed if you think your child has a hearing problem or are worried about their listening and understanding. A hearing test is also recommended before a speech and language evaluation for ages 3 and under. A hearing screening will be completed for older children receiving a speech and language evaluation.  

A hearing test for children can be done in several different ways depending on the age of your child and/or if they are able to participate. A complete hearing test is made up of what we call subjective or behavioral testing (the child must respond) and objective testing (the child does not have to respond). Your audiologist and graduate clinician will use both methods to get a complete picture of your child’s hearing.

Types of testing that may be performed: 

OTOSCOPY (OBJECTIVE) 

Clinicians will look in your child’s ears with an instrument called an otoscope to see the health of the outer ear, the ear canal, and the eardrum. They can see if there is any earwax or other objects in your child’s ears that would need to be removed. 

TYMPANOMETRY (OBJECTIVE) 

This test is used to measure how your child’s eardrum is moving and how their middle ear system is working. This tells clinicians if there may be some fluid or negative pressure that would require a follow-up appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor or pediatrician. Clinicians place a tip like an earphone in your child’s ears, changing pressure in the ear to give them this information. 

OTOACOUSTIC EMISSIONS (OBJECTIVE) 

This test measures how your child’s hearing organ is functioning. Clinicians place a small microphone (like an earbud) in your child’s ears. They then play soft sounds. When the sound reaches the healthy cochlea (inner ear), hair cells in this organ will make an echo that the microphone will measure. Absent otoacoustic emissions may show a problem in the middle ear or hearing loss. Present otoacoustic emissions generally show normal or near-normal hearing. Further testing is needed to find additional information about how your child is hearing. 

BEHAVIORAL TESTING (SUBJECTIVE) 

This test tells clinicians about how your child is hearing speech as well as sounds ranging from low to high pitches. If your child can wear headphones or earphones, clinicians may be able to get information on how each ear is hearing. If loudspeakers are used, this will only tell clinicians how their best ear is responding. This does not necessarily mean that one ear has hearing loss. However, it is recommended your child come for a follow-up appointment when they can wear headphones or earphones to test hearing in each ear individually. Clinicians may use different ways to test you child. These can be one of the following: 

Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (approximately 6 months of age): Clinicians will speak or play sounds using headphones, earphones or speakers and will watch how your child responds to these sounds. First, sounds are played at the same time as a picture or moving toy. Once the child learns to hear and see something at the same time, the picture or moving toy only appears after the sound and after the child looks in the direction of the speaker to see the light up toy. Clinicians are looking for the child to turn their head in response to only the sound. There may be another clinician or assistant in the room with your child. Their job is to help get your child’s attention so the clinicians can watch for the head turn to the sound. 

Conditioned Play Audiometry (approximately 2.5 years of age): Clinicians will teach your child how to play a game to see how they are hearing. They teach your child to take their turn when they hear the sound (either speech or beeps of different pitches). They may ask your child to put a block in a bucket every time your child hears a sound. When your child responds when they hear the sound, clinicians can get information about your child’s hearing. 

Conventional Audiometry (approximately 5 years of age and older): Clinicians may do this when your child is old enough. They will speak to your child and play beeps through headphones, earphones or loudspeakers. When your child hears the sound, they will be asked to press a button, raise their hand or say yes when they hear it. They will also do this with words. They will be asked to repeat a word or point to a picture. Clinicians will present these sounds at different levels to find the quietest sound your child can hear. 
 
Adults: 

A hearing test is used to discover if a person has typical or atypical hearing. This test will tell you if a hearing aid (s) may be needed to help you or if other types of devices could be helpful. A complete hearing test is made up of two parts: subjective testing (the adult responds) and objective testing (the ear responds). 

Sometimes a person may be asked to see another specialist or physician for further evaluation. Your audiologist will let you know if this is needed. 
 
Types of testing that may be performed: 

OTOSCOPY (OBJECTIVE) 

Clinicians will look in your ears with a device called an otoscope to see if your outer ear, ear canal, and eardrum are healthy. They can see if there is a lot of earwax or other objects in your ears that would need to be removed. 

TYMPANOMETRY (OBJECTIVE) 

This test is used to see how your eardrum is moving and how your middle ear system is working. This tells clinicians if there may be some fluid or negative pressure that would suggest you need to see an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor or primary care doctor. Clinicians place a tip like an earphone in your ears, changing pressure in the ear to tell them how this part of your ear is working. 

ACOUSTIC REFLEX THRESHOLD AND DECAY (OBJECTIVE) 

In this test a tip (like an earbud) will be placed in one or both of your ears, and you will hear several loud beeps that change in pitch. These beeps will be on for a short period of time so the clinician can see how your hearing system is working. The beeps will be on for one second at a time and no longer than 10 seconds. 

OTOACOUSTIC EMISSIONS (OBJECTIVE) 

This test sees how your hearing organ (cochlea) is working. Clinicians place a small microphone like an earbud in your ears. They then play soft sounds and when sound reaches the healthy cochlea (inner ear), hair cells will produce an echo that the microphone will measure. Absent otoacoustic emissions may show a problem in the middle ear or hearing loss. Present otoacoustic emissions may show normal or near-normal hearing. Other testing is needed to get more information about your hearing. 

BEHAVIORAL TESTING (SUBJECTIVE) 

This tells clinicians how you are hearing speech and sounds ranging from low to high pitches. You will be asked to wear headphones or earphones so clinicians can get information on how each ear is hearing.  

Clinicians will speak to you and play beeps through your headphones or earphones. When you hear the beep, you will be asked to respond by raising your hand, pressing a button or saying yes. You will also be instructed to repeat words or sentences that you hear. These sounds and words may be done at different levels to find the quietest sound you can hear.