How Important Is It to Have a Hearing Test to Evaluate and Screen for Problems?
Hearing is one of the body’s five senses. An absence of the ability to hear would cripple the pace of a person’s social and psychological development. It can even contribute to one’s loss of self-esteem knowing others around them are fairly normal. That’s why it is very important that this ability is assessed as early as infancy so any support and treatment are done early in life. Hence, a hearing test, evaluation, and screening play vital roles in this context. But what do these terms mean exactly? And how do they differ from each other?
A Hearing Test and Its Function
A Hearing test is the umbrella term that encompasses a hearing evaluation and screening. Generally, a hearing test is conducted in order to determine one’s ability to hear different sounds and to evaluate whether there is a hearing problem or any hearing loss. It is mainly carried out for two reasons: one is to routinely check a young child’s development especially when there is a delay in language acquisition. The other is to determine the degree of and possibly the cause of someone’s hearing problem or loss so that the appropriate hearing support and treatment can be provided.
Basically, a different hearing test is used for adults than for children. All hearing tests are painless so you need not worry. If you’re experiencing a hearing problem, you’d be well advised to get yourself to a hearing specialist for a hearing test so the problem can be treated. Or, you can search the web for a reliable online hearing test and some effective tools that might offer help with your hearing problem.
Hearing Evaluation and its Description
Hearing evaluation is not your job as the person with a hearing problem. It is the job of a hearing aid specialist that conducts a hearing test for you. Subsequently, it is done after the test has been made. Once the hearing problem is determined and assessed, the next step is for the specialist to evaluate the gravity of the hearing loss. This means that hearing evaluation is a substantial part of the entire hearing test process since this is where hearing aids and hearing treatments are laid out depending on the magnitude of the hearing problem.
Hearing Screening and its Distinction
Unlike hearing evaluation, hearing screening is mostly synonymous to the hearing test. It’s just that hearing screening serves as part of a diagnostic process that prevents consequential problems brought about by a hearing disability that has not been diagnosed as early as possible. This goes to show that the subjects for hearing screening are mostly newborn infants whose hearing acuity is analyzed, so parents can prepare themselves in providing the necessary tools, equipment, and aids when the child grows up so to avoid learning impairment.
