Mrs. Solis—thank you for your note. I appreciate your comments and certainly wanted you to know that Dr. Stroud wanted to respond to you in a way that would speak to your concerns, but also encourage you to seek additional information outside of the audiology realm to get the best picture of your son. She did visit with several of the Audiologists in our department informally about what optimal recommendations they might make based on an audiogram like your son’s with the reported speech issues. It is very difficult because based on the test results that I have seen (which is definitely limited), I would not expect the significant delays in speech to be caused by the hearing loss in the lower frequencies. Also, generally we apply the term minimal or mild when the hearing loss impacts hearing across the speech range or within the mid-high frequency range (the range that most consonants are found).
My understanding is that you are working with Elizabeth Bowden as you undergo a trial period with a BAHA and traditional amplification. As I have not been involved in your son’s care, I am not confident that I would have made the same recommendations, but recognize the need to investigate different options and look for solid verification of benefit. With my limited knowledge about your son, I see a “red flag” for auditory processing issues potentially that may warrant investigation.
At ACH, we are deeply involved in early identification and aggressive management of hearing loss. All of the references you provided are a part of what we recognize as best practice and many of us on our staff are involved at both the national and international level in seeking a solid evidence based for what we do. I apologize again for your disappointment in the response you received from us as our goal is always to help families find answers. I would be happy to offer you a second opinion with another member of our staff, etc., if you would like.
Sincerely,
Patti
Patti F. Martin, Ph.D.
Director, Audiology and Speech Pathology
Arkansas Children's Hospital
Her response really just left me dumbfounded. She is an Audiologist. She has her degree. She works with children with hearing impairments. Any regular person could look at an Audiogram and see that the bulk of speech sounds is in the low frequency range (see here). Her belief is that they are in the high frequency range. That is a novice error. Karen Anderson who was the Early Childhood Invention specialist in Florida, Educational Audiologist Karen L Anderson, with decades of years of experience working with children effected by hearing loss on all levels and all ages stated clearly in her message to me that a loss in the low to mid pitches would DEFINITELY cause problems with accessing verbal information.
Her response really just left me dumbfounded. She is an Audiologist. She has her degree. She works with children with hearing impairments. Any regular person could look at an Audiogram and see that the bulk of speech sounds is in the low frequency range (see here). Her belief is that they are in the high frequency range. That is a novice error. Karen Anderson who was the Early Childhood Invention specialist in Florida, Educational Audiologist Karen L Anderson, with decades of years of experience working with children effected by hearing loss on all levels and all ages stated clearly in her message to me that a loss in the low to mid pitches would DEFINITELY cause problems with accessing verbal information.
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