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A person holds a hand to their ear with a white soundwave graphic shown beside it. A person holds a hand to their ear with a white soundwave graphic shown beside it.

Children’s Audiology (Swindon)

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Children’s Audiology is a service for babies, children and young people with sound related issues – including hearing, listening, and discomfort around certain sounds.

Our aim is to help your child access the right support, so they can be well equipped for everyday life.

About the team

Our teams include paediatric audiologists, associate audiologists and assistant audiologists. We specialise in assessing hearing and supporting it in everyday situations.

We offer a personalised service to babies identified with hearing loss by the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme, children who realise they have difficulty hearing as they grow up, children with temporary hearing loss (often caused by congestion behind the eardrum – sometimes called ‘glue ear’) and children living with permanent hearing loss.

To make sure children get the care they need, we work closely with others who can support: GPs, ENT specialists, speech and language therapists, paediatric hearing aid audiologists, hearing support teachers, and education teams.

This service is provided by Great Western Hospital.

Who this service is for

We can usually help if:

  • You have concerns about your child’s hearing, listening or sound sensitivity
  • Your child’s nursery, pre-school or school has concerns about their hearing
  • You have been referred from newborn hearing screening
  • Your child lives with known hearing loss
  • Your child has/has a history with a medical condition associated with hearing loss
  • You’re registered with a local GP
  • Your child is seriously delayed in learning speech and language

We may not be the right service if:

  • You live outside the area covered by this service

Getting help from this service

Professional referral only

This service accepts referrals from professionals, including GPs, only. If you're unsure who can refer you, contact us for advice.

Questions and answers

What support can my child get from this service?
We can assess your child’s hearing and help your child access the right support, if needed.
Are services the same everywhere?
The clinical standards and quality of care are the same. That said, some services are only available in certain areas. The exact clinics and locations – and how you access the services – may also depend on where you are.
Where will the appointment be?
The exact location will depend on where you live and what test your child needs, but appointments usually take place in community clinics or hospital audiology departments.
How can I help prepare my child for their Audiology appointment?
Explain to your child that they are going to have their hearing checked and will be playing some listening games. For more information, look at our website to find our Social Story and our leaflet about what will happen in the appointment.
How can I prepare for my child’s appointment?
Tell us before your appointment date if you can’t attend or if you need an interpreter or any special assistance for your child’s appointment. If you can, arrange for your child to attend their appointment without siblings. Allow plenty of time for travelling to the appointment and for parking (if you are driving). If you are late for your appointment we may have to rearrange it and see you on another date.
Can my child attend an appointment if they are ill?
If your child is poorly (e.g. with a very heavy cold, contagious illness such as chicken pox, a sickness bug or symptoms of coronavirus), get in touch to cancel and rearrange the hearing test.
What happens at the appointment?
Before we assess your child’s hearing we will ask you some questions about your child. We might ask about what you have noticed about your child’s hearing, what your child thinks of their own hearing, if appropriate Anything anyone involved in your child’s care has noticed about child’s hearing. Concerns you may have about your child’s hearing or speech, your child’s ability to understand speech, your child’s general development and health, your child’s medical history and family history of hearing loss. We use a range of hearing tests to measure children’s hearing. We’ll decide which ones to use depending on your child’s age, development, and the concerns you’ve raised. The hearing tests measure how the different parts of the ear (outer, middle and inner ear) respond to sound. We may use different methods such as loudspeakers, headphones and a bone vibrating headphone to measure your child’s hearing. For more information about hearing tests for babies and children please ask a member of our team for details.
What happens at an appointment for babies?
Young babies are often tested while they are sleeping – if we would like your child to be asleep for their hearing test we will explain this in your appointment letter. Once a child is 8 months old, we usually like them to be awake and alert for their appointment. Our assessment usually involves looking at their reactions to sounds or playing a game with sounds.
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Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Community Health
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