Phonak Pediatric Diagnostic tools
Pediatric Validation Instruments – for professionals helping children with hearing loss and their families
The ELF and the CHILD Help Parents Understand the Implications of Hearing Loss.
Increasing numbers of young children are diagnosed with hearing loss in the first few months of life – well before most parents have enough experience with the child to begin to suspect a hearing problem.
Two parent completion instruments, the Early Listening Function (ELF) and the Children’s Home Inventory of Listening Difficulties (CHILD) provide the parents and caregivers with a means to systematically observe their child under circumstances typical of the child’s everyday life.
They help the parents to develop an understanding of the implications of hearing loss and the need for timely and consistent amplification management.
Karen Anderson
Early Listening Function (ELF) for infants and toddlers
ELF encourages parents to participate in the hearing loss discovery process. The ELF defines twelve contrived listening activities that can easily be performed at home – the child’s typical environment.
Parents determine if a behavioral response can be obtained at certain distances. As the parents gain comfort in estimating the size of their child’s listening bubble, these observations can be very valuable to the developing an awareness of communication access with and without amplification.
Download the ELF questionnaire (310 kB).
Children’s Home Inventory of Listening Difficulties (CHILD) for 3-12 years
As with ELF, the CHILD employs the parents in the role of observer of their child’s behavior. ELF is aimed at detection alone, whereas CHILD relates to dynamic communication situations. CHILD is also sensitive to the subtle difficulties experienced by children with mild, fluctuating, or unilateral hearing loss.
CHILD can provide the family with a reality check of what communication difficulties exist in the child’s daily life. As children move from small and insular home, child-care, or early preschool environments into school classrooms, it is imperative that the parents understand their child’s auditory skills.
Download the CHILD questionnaire (88 kB).
Each of these tests has a User’s Manual for the audiologist or early interventionist. These manuals provide guidance to the professional in how to use the tests and introduce the concepts to the parents.
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