Posts by Chanie Monoker
Why Do I Need An Audiologist When I Can Get A Hearing Aid Online So Conveniently?
Baseline Data How do you know if you need a hearing aid if you haven’t had a diagnostic test? You need to test your auditory system to determine: a) Do you have a hearing loss or is it something else? b) Whether the issue is medically treatable? It could be that you will require…
Read MoreBottoms Up
Bottom-up, not Top-down That’s how you climb up a ladder to reach the top. You can’t magically get to the top if you are at the bottom, you need to work your way up. No one started out by riding a unicycle or walking a tightwire. They first rolled over, crawled, pulled to stand, stood,…
Read MoreDoes My Insurance Cover Your Services?
The only way to know if your insurance covers Hearing Kids‘ services, is to check with your insurance company. Insurance companies cover their stated services when they deem it medically necessary. An auditory medical issue would include middle ear fluid. It need not include a developmental delay and most certainly does not include an academic…
Read More7 Signs That It Is Time to Take Your Child to the ENT Specialist
ENT stands for Ear, Nose and Throat. Here we are focusing exclusively on the ears even though throat related issues may be impacting the ear health. When a child has a hearing concern, the audiologist is your hearing expert and the ENT is your medical ear health expert. An ENT practice that has a pediatric…
Read MoreWhat Is Misophonia and What Can Be Done For It?
Definition What is Misophonia? Simply put, misophonia is a hatred of sound. After the definition nothing is simple. Diagnosis or Symptom? Just why is dealing with it so perplexing? Misophonia is largely diagnosed based on a behavioral subjective symptom, the angry outburst. Diagnoses are based on quantifiable (physiological) objective measures called signs. A quantifiable measure…
Read MoreWhat Can I Expect From My APD Assessment?
This is a common question, “what can I expect to happen at my APD assessment?” Only the audiologist you are seeing can tell you what to expect. What I can share with you is what you should look for: You want to walk away feeling your professional understands your struggle and was able to offer…
Read MoreSpeech vs. Non-speech Tests in APD Diagnosis
The debate continues… Speech vs. non-speech tests For certain auditory processing assessments it is possible to use a non-speech based stimuli. For example, it is known that phonemic awareness is a foundational skill that underlies reading. Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize and separate out the distinct sounds in a word and, when sounds…
Read MoreThe Great Debate: Is APD “Real”?
The Debate A great debate exists questioning whether Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is even “real”? Could APD exist when test items are speech based or should a diagnosis be based only on tests using non-speech items? (For more about speech vs. non-speech based APD testing see here.) This thinking was based on the belief that…
Read MoreWhich Reading Remediation Program is Right For You?
Orton-Gillingham Wilson LiPS Seeing Stars Barton KIPP Read 180 Reading Rocket … Have you ever wondered why there are so many reading programs? The Situation Perhaps you suspect your child has trouble reading and would like to optimize the help you get through your child’s school? Maybe the school has informed you they would like to…
Read MoreNo End Date In Sight (We Can Give A Time Frame)
Unless you are in a Tibetan monastery, schools are not known for their quiet. Dave, Michelle and Skylar all had difficulty with listening in a noisy environment. They all began sound therapy. Michelle satisfactorily completed the protocol in 9 weeks. Skylar finished in 12 weeks. While Dave took a little, longer finishing after 5 months.…
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