Critical Thinking: A Program Review of Doctor of Audiology Students.

Purpose: Critical thinking is a crucial component of health care, and its importance has been recognized in training medical professionals. This study reports critical thinking skills for entering doctor of audiology (AuD) students and the trajectory of the change in critical thinking skills measured 2 times over a period of 3 years.

Method: This longitudinal, descriptive, and exploratory design was implemented for programmatic review.

A Program Review of Head Start and Elementary School Hearing Screenings.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to review quality benchmarks from hearing screening programs conducted at local Head Start centers and preschool and elementary schools associated with our university training programs. Method Hearing screening results from 6,043 children were reviewed. Hearing screening was accomplished using either distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) at Head Start centers, pure-tone audiometry at preschool and elementary schools, and tympanometry at all settings.

Delayed diagnosis of a patient with Usher syndrome 1C in a Louisiana Acadian family highlights the necessity of timely genetic testing for the diagnosis and management of congenital hearing loss.

Advances in sequencing technologies and increased understanding of the contribution of genetics to congenital sensorineural hearing loss have led to vastly improved outcomes for patients and their families. Next-generation sequencing and diagnostic panels have become increasingly reliable and less expensive for clinical use. Despite these developments, the diagnosis of genetic sensorineural hearing loss still presents challenges for healthcare providers.

Detailed Audiological Evaluation of a Patient with Xeroderma Pigmentosum with Neural Degeneration.

Background: Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare autosomal recessive condition characterized by extreme sensitivity to ultraviolet light. Individuals with XP lack the ability to repair DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) damage caused by ultraviolet radiation, leading to sunburn and increased susceptibility to skin cancers. Approximately 25% of patients also exhibit neural degeneration, which includes progressive mental deterioration, cortical thinning, and sensorineural hearing loss.

Dichotic listening training in children with autism spectrum disorder: A single subject design.

Objective: Previous research has shown that dichotic listening training has improved auditory and language processing for individuals with large interaural asymmetries on dichotic listening tasks. This training can be a useful treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Design: A single subject, multiple baseline across subjects study was utilized.

Evaluating a model to predict protocol performance.

Background: A test protocol is created when individual tests are combined. Even with a few tests, many different protocols are possible. Often, the clinician must select a protocol without information as to the performance of the possible protocols.

The impact of hearing impairment, perceptions and attitudes about hearing loss, and noise exposure risk patterns on hearing handicap among farm family members.

Farm noise exposure is the major cause of noise-induced hearing loss among farmers. Hearing impairment associated with hearing loss, however, may not adequately represent communication handicap and the impact on quality of life. This descriptive correlational study examines the impact of hearing impairment, perceptions and attitudes about hearing loss, and noise exposure risk patterns on hearing handicap among farm family members.

Development of low-frequency tone burst versus the click auditory brainstem response.

Often ABR threshold testing employs clicks to assess high-frequency hearing, and low-frequency tone bursts to assess low-frequency sensitivity. While a maturation effect has been shown for click stimuli, similar data are lacking for low-frequency toneburst stimuli. Thus, 305 infants ranging in conceptional age (CA) from 33 weeks to 74 weeks were tested.

The effect of midline petrous apex lesions on tests of afferent and efferent auditory function.

Objectives: Historically, audiological procedures have focused on the assessment of the afferent (ascending) cochlear-VIIIth nerve system and have, for the most part, ignored the efferent (descending) auditory system. We report afferent and efferent auditory test results for two cases with a cholesterol cyst of the right petrous apex; one lesion involves the afferent segment of the auditory system, and the second lesion involves both the afferent and efferent segments of the auditory system. These "natural experiments" provide a unique opportunity to study the effect of a space-occupying lesion of the petrous apex on afferent and efferent function of the auditory system.