Tips For Testing The Hearing Of Children With Autism
Posted on: 9 May 2017
If you have a child that has autism, you want to make sure that he or she is able to navigate the world as easily as possible. This will allow him or her to have a fulfilling life and expand his or her social circles as much as possible. If your child is not able to hear properly, he or she might have a harder time than is necessary communicating with others.
Depending on the level of autism that your child has, normal hearing tests and hearing symptom evaluations might not be as simple or straightforward. Here are some tips for testing the hearing of children with autism.
1. Inform the Hearing Screener What Your Child Uses for Rewards
The first thing that you need to do is inform the person who is going to be giving the hearing test to your child what types of rewards your child prefers. The reason for this is that the screener will want to make sure that your child is being rewarded for responding appropriately to the different tones that he or she hears. He or she is more likely to respond appropriately if that behavior has been reinforced with a reward. Help the screener by bringing toys, treats, or other items that work well with your child and will help encourage him or her to work easily through the test.
2. Let Your Child Play With the Headphones Before Using Them
Ask for a little bit of extra time to be scheduled for your appointment to give your child the chance to play with the headphones and get used to them. This means that he or she will take the time to fit the headphones on a beloved stuffed animal or on your own head. By giving your child a chance to mess with the headphones, you reduce the chances that he or she will have a problem with how they feel on his or her own head.
3. Use Pictures
Show pictures of hearing tests to your child and talk him or her through what will happen. This will allow him or her to be able to anticipate what to expect. This is going to make your child feel a lot more calm and therefore respond better to the hearing test.
For more information, talk to a company that specializes in hearing evaluations for children with autism. They can help give you additional support.
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