Audiology Guidelines
The goal of developing this document is to provide guidelines for pediatric diagnostic services that recognize the diversity of individuals and families. These guidelines have been developed specifically for audiological diagnostic services provided to children from birth-36 months of age. This is a companion document to the previously created Louisiana Hospital Guidelines for Newborn Infant Hearing Screening Programs.
Audiologists who are not able to provide these services, due to lack of skill, experience, or equipment are ethically obligated by the Louisiana Board of Examiners in Speech Pathology and Audiology Ethics Guidelines to refer families to facilities where the needed services can be obtained.
A well-organized and professional early hearing detection and intervention system can make a significant difference in the lives of children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families. We hope these guidelines can act as a tool to providing the best services possible.
These guidelines are intended for audiologists who serve infants and young children suspected of having hearing loss. Given the necessity and importance of multi- disciplinary service providers for children and their families, other stakeholders may benefit from these assessment guidelines in the context of early detection and intervention program development.
Who developed these guidelines?
These guidelines were developed by a committee of audiologists from the state of Louisiana and DHH Office of Public Health "Sound Start" EHDI Program in collaboration with the Louisiana State Advisory Council on Infant Hearing.
These guidelines are based on the DHH rules and regulations developed to accompany Louisiana Act 653 of 1999 Universal Newborn Screening Legislation and were updated to reflect new recommendations from the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing Position Statement (2007) in November, 2009. See Appendix B for summary on JCIH 2007 Position Paper.
Funding was provided in part by grants from the US Maternal and Child Health Bureau and Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
