Preschool Hearing Impaired Assessment

[slpshanie]

Any suggestions for an assessment instrument to use with a 3 year old hearing impaired child? This child is only using a few sounds orally; says bye-bye and that is about it. Poor home situation; not consistently wearing hearing aids.

[evawd]

What is the child's hearing loss like? I would want to know why the amplification is not worn consistently. There could be reasons other than parental follow-up. How is the child communicating: verbal attempts, gestures, etc. At this age, I think an overall developmental picture of the child would be important. As far as language, you may not be able to get a true picture using standardized measures. I think the best information would be that obtained from the significant adults in the child's life on a daily basis. Can the child repeat vowel sounds with and without visual cues. What consonant sounds can the child imitate with and without visual cues? Deaf children are absolutely the most fun to work with and when language begins to mean something to them, the whole world lights up for both the child and for you. I know that sometimes it can be overwhelming to work with very young deaf children, but keep at it because it is the most rewarding population around.