Developmental stages

How hearing care professionals approach conversations with children depends on  their age and developmental stage. Children with hearing loss do not always act as mature as their peers due to the later onset of age-appropriate communication skills. It can therefore be helpful to know which tools and methodologies to use with children at different developmental stages. The My World tool can help host conversations with children and teenagers from two years to nineteen years of age and can be successfully integrated with other pediatric tools and methodologies. You can use the Developmental Stages Chart to learn how to use the My World tool with children at different ages and developmental stages and how to apply it in conjunction with other pediatric tools. 

As part of the audiological assessment with children, hearing care professionals often ask questions of the parent and the child, if old enough, regarding how the child is doing. However, without questions that probe into specific developmental, communication, and social areas, it is easy to overlook deficits and challenges that might be experienced by the child. This functional skills screening tool can be used when interviewing a parent to obtain detailed information about a child's development across the domains of cognitive, behavioral, social, self-advocacy, communication, physical, language, speech intelligibility, and auditory and listening skills. The rubric consists of a 5 point scale from age appropriate to severe limitation that yields a profile of the child's strengths and weaknesses. Results should be corroborated with the child's teachers and therapists and can be used to discuss special education services. This tool can also be used by the hearing care professional to monitor the child's progress over time. The child can provide input to some of the domains in discussions using tools such as My World.