Early Head Start and other early childhood health and education programs engaging in hearing screening will benefit from the expertise that only a pediatric audiologist can provide.
Pediatric audiologists have the skills to demonstrate appropriate Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) hearing screening techniques, as well as to perform other kinds of hearing assessments that are needed when children do not pass repeated OAE screenings.
It is important to understand that while pediatric audiologists have extensive expertise
in diagnosing hearing
loss in infants and children, few have experience in setting up a comprehensive hearing screening program in an early childhood education setting.
To help a pediatric audiologist help you, we have developed a new Audiologist's and Facilitator's Training and Technical Assistance Guide. This Guide is designed to help your audiologist partner to:
- Understand the basics about Head Start
- Structure a facilitated training experience
to train/retrain screeners
- Provide follow-up technical assistance on
a range of topics
Developing a partnership is a two-way street, and just as you benefit from the things that an audiologist can add to your program, your audiolog
ist partner will benefit from understanding the larger context in which you provide valuable services to children and families. Also, remember to invite your audiologist partner to serve on your Health Services Advisory Committee.
