Hearing, Balance, Tinnitus – Assessment and Intervention: Pediatrics

1148L - Finding solutions to treat reduced audibility in kids (FASTRAK study)

Thursday, November 17, 2022

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM CT

Format: 1-Hour Seminar (In-Person)

Audience: Students, Researchers, Related Professionals

Keywords: Hearing loss, Pediatrics, Audiometry, Speech Recognition, Diagnostics

Presenting Author(s)

Ryan McCreery

Boys Town National Research Hospital

Author Only (Not Presenting)(s)

Dawna Lewis

Boys Town National Research Hospital
Kathryn Wiseman

Boys Town National Research Hospital
Lisa Davidson

Washington University in St. Louis
Derek Stiles

Boston Children's Hospital
Maggie Heusinkvelt

Boys Town National Research Hospital
Amberlee Haggerty

Boys Town National Research Hospital
Elizabeth Walker

University of Iowa

Our team is developing new clinical tools to improve the diagnosis and management of mild bilateral hearing loss in children. Children with mild bilateral hearing loss often perform like children with normal hearing on current assessments, despite having difficulty in everyday listening situations. The Finding Appropriate Solutions to Treat Reduced Audibility in Kids (FASTRAK) study is a multi-site collaboration between audiologists and speech-language pathologists to develop clinical tools to help children with mild bilateral hearing loss. This session will describe laboratory validation of the FASTRAK audiogram and speech recognition battery to show how clinical assessments can be adapted to better identify listening challenges. Providing more consistent access to early intervention will improve language and academic outcomes for this underserved population.

Learning Objectives:

Describe the barriers to diagnosis and management of mild bilateral hearing loss in children
Use audiological assessments that incorporate the effects of ear-canal acoustics and child-generated noise
Integrate speech recognition tests that are sensitive to the challenges faced by children with mild bilateral hearing loss