Audiology
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About the Division of Audiology

Hearing and Balance Care

The Division of Audiology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is one of the nation’s largest pediatric audiology programs. The division is comprised of audiologists who are specially trained to evaluate, treat, and manage the audiology care of patients from birth to 21 years old through a wide range of medical conditions. Our team of experts provides a variety of diagnostic services for our patients. The team discusses our findings with our patients and family members.

Services & Programs Offered

This comprehensive evaluation consists of a test battery that evaluates the auditory system, including assessing the outer, middle, and inner ear, including the child’s level of hearing sensitivity which is most important for speech and language development. This evaluation is adapted to the child’s developmental level, which allows us to assess children, as early as 6 months of age. Read more about the diagnostic services in Audiology.
The role of the Audiology Care Coordinator is to facilitate the hearing care services for patients, ages birth to 3 years old, who have been identified with a hearing loss, with the expressed purpose of achieving the best patient outcomes. The goal of the Audiology Care Coordinator is to provide support in the areas of education, access to resources and services, and collaboration with other involved service providers to promote early intervention and improved quality of life.  Additional services may include, but are not limited to, assistance with scheduling appointments and transportation, as well as connections to resources that promote parent empowerment. Read more about online resources related to children and hearing.
Diagnosing and treating hearing loss with appropriate amplification device is the start of successful treatment. Some children may still have difficulties adjusting to their residual hearing and the amplification that they are using. An aural rehabilitation evaluation with one of our specially trained audiologists can be conducted to assess how well your child is adjusting to how well they hear and can make specific recommendations. Read more about the Aural Rehabilitation Program.
The Division of Audiology has a team of audiologists that provide specialty testing in the diagnosis and remediation of auditory processing disorders. A central auditory processing evaluation may be warranted when children, with otherwise normal hearing, have difficulties listening to sounds and instructions. Families or teachers may have concerns about the child’s hearing. These children may mishear information (such as hearing “hot” for “hop”), have difficulty hearing in noisy environments, and have poor reading or spelling skills. We encourage our families to think about auditory complaints and not language / comprehension complaints for central auditory processing evaluations. These evaluations consist of specially selected assessments based from research to evaluate how the brain accurately perceives the sound it is hearing. Based on the pattern of results, specific treatment therapies or recommendations are made to your family and child. Read more about central auditory processing evaluations.
The Cochlear Implant treats severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss and provides comprehensive multidisciplinary care for infants, children and adolescents, while providing education and support for their families. Our team includes experts in Audiology, Otolaryngology (ENT), Speech-Language Pathology, Social Services and Developmental Pediatrics. Learn more about the Cochlear Implant Program at Cincinnati Children’s.
Our audiologists are trained in recommending and ordering custom-fit products such as swim molds, hearing protection, musician earmolds that need to fit exactly into your child’s ear.
The Audiology Family Advisory Council was established in 2015 with parent and patient representatives from each of our satellite offices and as a whole represents our patient population. The council has quarterly meetings and provides feedback regarding new changes within our department and guidance to continue to provide a superior level of experience for our patients and their families. This amazing group of families is a key component to our family centered approach to hearing care. Read more about the Family Advisory Council at Cincinnati Children’s.
There are lots of hearing aids manufactured in the world. We only work with manufactures that specialize in hearing aids for children. When hearing aids are needed, we consider the type of hearing aid and configuration of auditory input that each individual child needs for optimal language development. Each hearing aid is individually selected and programmed to meet the audiologic needs of the child. The effectiveness of the hearing aid is verified and validated with the latest technology and assessment tools to ensure that the child’s hearing aids are best fit to their age, hearing loss, and comfort to provide appropriate access to voices to help support speech and language development and access to environmental sounds. We provide onsite hearing device repairs and troubleshooting at all of our dispensing offices. Our audiologists are experts in assisting with accessories that can be coupled to hearing aids, including FM systems and Bluetooth technologies. Read more about the hearing aid process.
Newborns receive hearing screens before leaving the birthing hospital. An infant who refers, or does not pass the screen, for any reason needs to have a diagnostic follow up to determine if hearing is normal or not. Diagnostic evaluations can be obtained at most of our locations. Read more about the follow-up to Newborn Hearing Screening.
Some patients require audiology services while they are in the hospital. Babies who are admitted to our intensive care units receive newborn hearing screening or follow up evaluations as needed.  Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) and Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE) evaluations provide a gentle, accurate way to diagnose hearing problems in newborns. Older babies and children who are at risk for ear or hearing problems can also have their hearing evaluated during their inpatient stays. Patients who are receiving chemotherapy may be at risk for hearing loss and can be evaluated during their inpatient stays. For patients who cannot cooperate for traditional hearing tests, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Audiology uniquely collaborates with other departments to combine Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) evaluations with other procedures that involve anesthesia or sedation.  Read more about the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Cincinnati Children’s.
We have a dedicated team of audiologists who specialize in the pediatric single-sided deafness and unilateral hearing loss populations, and provide a comprehensive evaluation and may recommend treatment options such as: Bone Anchored Hearing Device, TransEar™, FM System, CROS®, or a Cochlear Implant.  Our team will discuss the best option for your child and your family during your appointment. 
The Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) Evaluation is a way to measure how well we hear in each ear and how well the hearing nerve sends the information to the brain. The test does not require participation from the child. It is commonly done on infants and small children, or anyone who cannot or will not cooperate with routine testing. This assessment can be done when the child is under natural sleep (typically under 6 months of age) or in certain circumstances, under sedation (if recommended by your audiologist). Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center also conducts ABR evaluations with all of the infants who are admitted into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit as part of our comprehensive newborn hearing screening program. Read more about Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) Evaluations.
The audiologists at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center are one of the few hospitals in the country who provide some basic hearing devices services remotely. By using a private / secure web-based portal, which is compliant with the regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), we can communicate remotely via a video conference with the use of home computers, laptops, tablets, and / or smartphones to provide one-on-one live audio consultation. This allows for a consultation and some basic hearing device repairs, which precludes an in-office visit. Our Telehealth program was designed to bridge the gaps in communication and service-delivery between audiologists, patients, therapists, and school personnel. This program was developed to improve patient / family satisfaction, improve outcomes, and reduce redundancies in patient scheduling.  Read more about the Center for Telehealth at Cincinnati Children’s.
We have one of the few Pediatric Balance Centers in the United States diagnosing and treating disorders of the pediatric vestibular system. The Pediatric Balance Team is a collaborative effort from Audiology, Otolaryngology and Occupational and Physical Therapy. Based off of the presenting complaints and case history, one or more tests are utilized to determine any findings and to direct therapy/treatment options. Read more about the Pediatric Balance Center at Cincinnati Children’s.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s audiologists not only provide care and personalized counseling for your child’s hearing and balance needs, our team works collaboratively with other health care professionals, such as primary care physicians, speech pathologists, developmental pediatricians, and otolaryngologists (ear, nose and throat - ENT) to ensure your child receive the individualized care he or she needs.

Changing the Outcome – Early Intervention Improves Communication Skills

When your child has an auditory deficit, no matter how slight, rare or significant, our team of specialists will employ the latest diagnostic tools and treatments to help improve communication skills and educational outcomes. We believe in early intervention. Our active collaboration with your family and other professionals will maximize your child’s communications abilities.

Research Efforts

Our internationally recognized and awarded Audiology researchers are committed to developing novel treatments and technologies to better understand, identify and treat hearing loss, pediatric vestibular function and auditory processing disorders.

Contact Us

For more information about the Division of Audiology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, contact via phone at 513-636-4236 or via email at audiology@cchmc.org.

Using Telehealth for Hearing Aids

Audiologists use Telehealth for two kinds of appointments: hearing aid evaluations and follow-up visits to see how the hearing aids are working.

Contact us.

For general inquiries, scheduling an appointment, or to refer a patient to the Division of Audiology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, please contact us by phone at 513-636-4236 or email audiology@cchmc.org.

Health topics.

We provide information on your child's health specific to audiology, including conditions & diagnoses, tests & procedures and treatment options.

Read our blog.

Learn more about the Division of Audiology on the Cincinnati Children’s blog.

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