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Public Schools Are Required By Federal Law PL 94-142, PL 99-457)To
Provide These Services
Services Include:
* Coordinate hearing screening programs
* Conduct comprehensive hearing
evaluations
* Conduct central auditory processing evaluations
* Provide community awareness about hearing
* Provide
management for hearing aids and FM auditory
trainers
* Provide medical and community referrals
* Assist in program
placement
* Provide therapy in the areas of speechreading,
listening, and hearing aid care
* Participate in multidisciplinary
team meetings
* Counsel families about effects of hearing loss
* Provide training to staff
* Educate about noise
pollution
* Evaluate educational environment from noise
* Implement mandated Hearing Aid Monitoring Policy
* Identify
students with hearing loss
A hearing screening component is vital to a comprehensive Educational Audiology Program.
Students who have hearing loss are at risk for academic problems. The students that have hearing loss must be identified in
order to prevent academic failure. These children can be identified through a comprehensive hearing screening program.
A
hearing screening consists of a brief examination, usually of many children, to find those likely to have a hearing problem.
Criteria may be set by the audiologist in conjunction with school staff for the hearing screening program. The children who
possibly have hearing loss are identified. Follow-up for children who fail the hearing screening and need further testing
can be managed by the audiologist.
The audiologist can also be responsible for the working with the school staff for
setting up the logistics of the hearing screening. Forms for record keeping and letters of correspondence will be revised
and updated as needed. The audiologist can also manage the referrals for medical intervention and further evaluation when
appropriate.
Scheduling
To insure the success of an Educational Audiology Management Program, services must be
provided on a regular basis. John E Sexton & Associates provides audiological services in daily increments. When the services
are delivered in this manner, the teachers, staff, and students can expect and rely on the services on a given day. Consistent,
regular visits also allow for regular maintenance checks on FM auditory trainer equipment. The school system can then depend
on the audiologist to be available for an entire school day to perform evaluation services, fitting of equipment, service
needs, or any other activity that provides a comprehensive Educational Audiology Management Program. The schedule is set up
to allow the audiologist to complete the majority of paperwork promptly on site.
Maintenance
Appropriate management
of FM auditory trainers is vital to the hearing impaired children who rely on this equipment to access academic information.
If the equipment is not functioning appropriately, the child is not receiving the information he/she needs to succeed in the
classroom. The audiologist will provide maintenance checks and train school staff to monitor the hearing aids and FM auditory
trainers worn by hearing impaired students. The student can also be taught the basic maintenance such as how to clean an earmold
and how to check the battery.
The audiologist will be directly responsible for distributing, fitting, and setting all
FM auditory trainers. All FM auditory trainers will be fit using Real Ear Evaluation techniques. This type of fitting procedure
insures that the loudness and the frequency response of the amplification is appropriate.
The audiologist can also
manage the overall service of the equipment. If equipment is not working appropriately, the audiologist can troubleshoot and
do minor repairs on site. Assistance in selecting and ordering new equipment will be provided when needed. The audiologist
will also be available to assist in follow-up on personal amplification with the local audiologist and other involved parties.
The audiologist can also be responsible for coordinating the calibration of audiometers and related equipment that needs summer
service.
Counseling
After an evaluation, the students, teacher(s), and parent(s) will be notified through written
communication of the results and recommendations. The audiologist will be available to discuss this information personally
with the teachers and parents to explain the results in detail and to offer information on how to carry out the recommendations.
Assistance in appropriately placing children who are classified Hearing Impaired will be provided. The audiologist can assist
in setting appropriate goals for children classified as Hearing Impaired.
The audiologist will be available to meet
with the teachers and support personnel who will be working with children who are Hearing Impaired. Classroom management strategies
and suggestions on how to relay information to hearing impaired students will be provided. The appropriate use of the FM auditory
trainer equipment will be presented. Teachers will also be taught some basic troubleshooting techniques for the equipment
that their students will be using.
The audiologist will also be available upon request, to develop and present current
information in the field of educational audiology for any school staff members, including special education, regular education,
support services, and related services. Also, a Hearing Conservation Program can be established for regular education students
if the school system desires.
Diagnostics
The Audiologist can perform all audiological diagnostic evaluations
needed at the school site. This may include yearly evaluations for all Hearing Impaired students, all students referred from
the hearing screening program, as well as others referred throughout the school year. Reports will be completed in a timely
fashion and distributed to the appropriate personnel as part of the school day served.
Diagnostic evaluations may
include, but are not limited to:
* Air Conduction - The measurement made with the earphones of an audiometer that
checks hearing sensitivity.
* Bone Conduction - The measurement made with the bone conduction vibrator of an audiometer
that checks the hearing sensitivity of the inner ear.
* Speech Reception Thresholds - The threshold of intelligibility
of speech.
* Speech Discrimination Testing - The percentage of correctly identified items on a word understanding
test.
* Tympanometry - Measurement of the function of the tympanic membrane.
* Otoscopy - Inspecting the ear
canal and tympanic membrane with an otoscope.
* Central Auditory Processing Evaluation - An assessment of the ability
to process auditory information accurately and in correct order.
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