HEARing CRC Supervisor: Harvey Dillion

HEARing CRC Project: R4.6.4

Title: Predicting outcomes in early identified babies with Auditory Neuropathy: The use of electrophysiological testing at the age of 6-12 months to predict speech discrimination outcomes at 3 years of age.

Detail:

With the implementation of newborn hearing screening across Australia babies are being diagnosed with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) at a much earlier age. The challenge with the diagnosis of ANSD is that patients show extremely variable outcomes. Some babies eventually show near normal hearing thresholds with good speech discrimination, some perform satisfactorily with the fitting of hearing aids, and some experience such significant distortion of speech that they are considered for cochlear implantation. The aim of this study is to use objective measures of auditory pathway function to try to predict which babies may have more difficulty with hearing and speech discrimination so that the most appropriate early intervention is provided at a critical time of speech and language development.