Pediatric Assessment

The “LittlEARS Auditory Questionnaire” is a parent questionnaire that evaluates behaviors that are observable as a reaction to acoustic stimuli. The “LittlEARS Auditory Questionnaire” is the first module of the LittlEARS Battery (in development) that is designed to assess preverbal auditory development in very young children. This questionnaire is intended to follow the auditory development of children after newborn hearing screening from birth to 24 months of age; or hearing impaired children with cochlear implants or hearing aids with a hearing age (time after first fitting) of 0-24 months.

The questionnaire was standardized on 218 normal hearing children aged 0-24 and is currently being evaluated on children with cochlear implants. Expected values and minimal values are given for individual comparison. The questionnaire consists of 35 questions, which can be completed by the parents. Completion instructions are provided on the questionnaire. It takes around 10 minutes for the parent to complete the questionnaire.

The “COT Test” was developed by Geoff Plant and Alessandra Moore. It is a sentence measure for hearing impaired children to measure auditory speech perception skills. The test is a closed set task, but of higher complexity than most closed set tasks. It aims to assess a child at a transition level between basic closed set tasks and open set tasks. It is an excellent measure for a child not ready for open set measures of speech perception. The test was revised in 2004 and is suitable for children with cochlear implants from as young as three years of age. The measure has two different levels, a “quick-test” with 3 subtests and a “full-length” version with 6 subtests. This measure is also included in the EARS battery.

The “Checklist of Auditory Communication Skills” is a measure that assists teachers, therapists, audiologists and parents in tracking the progress of a child’s auditory development and setting logical goals. It is designed for use with children of any age and skill level. This checklist is easy to use, especially to monitor a child’s progress on a variety of developing skills over time. Developed by Nancy Caleffe-Schenck, CCC-A, CertAVT.

Developed by Carolyn Brown, M.S. and Elaine Paden, Ph.D. this well-known clinical tool is designed to assess spontaneous use of first level phonological patterns in children with hearing loss. A list of 25 words (picture cards included) that are typically within the speaking vocabulary of young children with hearing loss is utilized in this test. The word list provides at least five opportunities for the child to demonstrate how well he/she spontaneously targets each basic consonant feature, such as manner, place, and voicing, as well as each of the primary vowel areas, diphthongs, and basic word patterns.

Numerical scoring of the tests reveals whether the child’s patterns are missing, emerging or mastered. This is an excellent measure for use with young children to assess speech production. It is suitable for children with low-level verbal competency and is age independent.

Includes: Instruction manual, stimulus cards and 20 score sheets. Score sheets and replacement cards are available separately.

“EARS” is a multi-language test battery designed to assess auditory development in children before and after cochlear implantation. “EARS” was developed to follow the emerging auditory skills following cochlear implantation, as described by Ling (1976) and Erber (1982). These levels are: detection, discrimination, identification, recognition and comprehension. The “EARS” battery includes tests of different linguistic levels suitable for children of different ages.

The test has a number of closed and open set speech perception tests, as well as questionnaires that can be completed by the child’s parents and teachers. “EARS” is useful in assessing long term evolution of auditory perceptual skills in pre-, peri- and post-lingually deafened children.

The “Mainstream Assessment of Readiness for Children Over Five (MARCOF)” was developed by Cynthia S. Robinson, M.Ed., CED. This tool is designed for educators and parents of children who are deaf to use together for analysis of a child’s readiness to enter mainstream education with hearing peers. Consideration is given to a variety of areas including standardized testing, listening behaviors, speech and language skills, auditory perception, academic skills, social /emotional development, and receiving school and family concerns. The importance of each area for evaluation is explained in a short summary. A numerical scoring sheet targets a child’s strengths and challenges and provides information on overall readiness, as well as highlighting areas needing further intervention or support services. The kit includes a manual explaining skills that are considered important along with recommendations for assessments that will help gather the data needed to assist in decision-making for successful mainstreaming.

“TeenEARS” is a test battery specifically developed for teenagers with cochlear implants. It comprises seven tests and one questionnaire. These tests cover differing levels of language competence, as well as auditory skills and psychosocial issues. The listening skills range from basic (environmental sounds) to more complex (speech tracking) and include open and closed set assessments. “TeenEARS” can either be used as an extension of the MED-EL EARS test battery, or as a stand-alone assessment battery for newly implanted teens. This test battery was developed in conjunction with a number of centers in the United Kingdom currently working with teenagers. TesTRAX is included in this battery.