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What We Do
What we do
Children's Hearing Testing
Healthy hearing is the foundation for a child’s speech, language development, and social growth. Our registered audiologists have over 40 years of experience testing, diagnosing, and treating hearing health in infants, toddlers, and school-aged children.
We provide a warm, welcoming, and patient environment intended to make your child feel entirely safe and comfortable during their visit. Some of our hearing-impaired pediatric patients are now fully grown and bring their own children to see us, making us proud to care for multiple generations of families in the London and Middlesex community. We even have a few three-generation families that we support!
NOTE: There is a fee for pediatric diagnostic hearing assessments. No referral is required for hearing testing. Please contact our clinic for details.
When Should a Child Have a Hearing Test?
We highly recommend booking a pediatric diagnostic hearing assessment if you notice any of the following signs:
Your infant or toddler does not startle at loud noises or turn toward sound.
Your child experiences frequent ear infections (otitis media) or fluid accumulation.
There are delays in speech development or unclear speech clarity.
They frequently ask you to repeat words or say “what?” often.
They struggle to hear or pay attention in noisy environments, like classrooms.
Your child’s teacher mentions they seem inattentive or are struggling academically.
What to Expect at a Pediatric Hearing Test Appointment
Just like our adult evaluations, our pediatric hearing tests are thorough, evidence-based, and designed to give you a complete picture of your child’s hearing health. However, we adapt our testing techniques to match your child’s age and developmental stage, ensuring the process feels like a series of little games. Here is what you can expect during your visit:
Case History & Developmental Review: Your audiologist will chat with you about your child’s medical history, birth history, speech and language milestones, and any specific environments (like daycare or school) where you notice listening challenges.
Visual Ear Exam (Otoscopy): Using an otoscope, we will take a gentle look inside your child’s ear canals to inspect the eardrum and check for common physical blockages, such as excess earwax or fluid buildup behind the eardrum. We can peform ear cleaning in-clinic in the case of a blockage.
Middle Ear Function Testing (Tympanometry): To look beyond what the eye can see, we perform a quick, automatic pressure test. This helps us objectively measure how well the eardrum moves and check for hidden fluid accumulation or ear infections (otitis media) without requiring your child to say a word.
Child-Friendly Sound Testing: Inside our comfortable, quiet booth, we use specialized, age-appropriate behavioural testing methods. For young chilren, this might include Visual Reinforcement Audiometry (turning head towards a sound) or Conditioned Play Audiometry (turning listening into a game with blocks or toys). For older children, we use pure-tone and can use speech exercises to measure exact hearing ranges and word clarity in quiet and noisy settings.
Immediate Results & Guidance: Your audiologist will sit down with you right away to explain the test results in clear, plain language. We will establish a healthy baseline for your child or discuss a personalized, pressure-free roadmap for next steps. You will receive a copy of the findings and we can share a copy of our clinical findings with your family doctor or pediatrician if you indicate a preference to do so.
Hearing But Not Listening
Is your child struggling to listen, even though you suspect they have normal hearing?
Sometimes, a child passes a standard hearing test perfectly, yet they still struggle to follow directions, get easily distracted by background noise, or misunderstand spoken language. If this sounds familiar, the issue may not be with their ears, but with how their brain processes sound, a condition known as Auditory Processing Disorder (APD).
Because the symptoms of APD are often mistaken for hearing loss, learning disabilities, or attention deficits, a specialized evaluation is critical. To learn more about our diagnostic APD testing and therapy programs to help children overcome these listening obstacles, visit our Auditory Processing Testing page for full details on how we can support your child’s auditory learning and development.
Next Steps
Early detection of hearing difficulty is critical for both physical hearing health and auditory processing skills. Whether your child needs a routine pediatric hearing assessment or a specialized Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) evaluation, our highly trained team is here to provide a caring and comprehensive evaluation for your child.