The Speech & Hearing Center is now offering pediatric visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA), which is a test that allows our audiologist to assess hearing in infants and toddlers too young for normal tests. VRA is designed for children aged 4 months to around 4 years old.

VRA Our audiologist uses VRA to measure your child’s hearing sensitivity while keeping them focused with visual reinforcers. These visual reinforcers such as lighted toys are hidden in a dark Plexiglas box 90-degrees to each side of the patient. A sound is then played in conjunction with the lighted toys to encourage the child to look toward the direction of the sound. At the Center, we use our dog and cat stuffed animals to direct the patient’s gaze.

The audiologist reduces the intensity of both the sound and visual stimuli until she determines your child’s minimum hearing threshold. She will continue using different frequencies in both ears until there is a complete set of data for your child.

The data from this audiogram can help the audiologist to determine both the degree and type of hearing loss your child has, if any. Children with hearing loss can then be treated in the most accurate way.