Audiologic assessment of children with suspected hearing loss.

In assessing children with suspected hearing loss, audiologists are faced with the challenge of attempting to describe auditory function in a population that presents with a wide range developmental levels and abilities. Fortunately, there are a number of behavioral and physiologic tools available for the evaluation of auditory sensitivity and system integrity in children of all ages and developmental abilities. As powerful as many of these tools may be, however, it is important that the diagnosis of hearing loss be based on the outcome of independent measures of auditory function, which serve to cross-check and complement one another. Failure to do so is likely to result in inaccurate or incomplete delineation of auditory function.