BOA ( Behavioural Observation Audiometry )
“Parde mein rehne do, parda na uthao,
Pardaa Jo Uth Gaya to….”
Hihihi..!!!! *giggles*- the soul full of vigour, happiness, life and the ultimate source of zeal and enthusiasm for us- which is a child, nurturer of today, and the future bird of our earth. Isn’t it very essential to henceforth make our ultimate motive- to nurture the child well, as any lag from our side, would thus create obstacle for the child to move in leaps and bounds for our future progressing society.
As we know that “It takes a big heart to shape a little mind”. Today what matters in this wide spectrum of advanced minds and technologies is the family child care i.e. care of the child taken by the family- which is not a babysitting- it cannot be compared to any care taken by a child-care centre. Children need the freedom to appreciate the infinite resources of their hands, their eyes and their ears, the resources of forms- materials, sounds and colours. It is of utmost importance that we take care in such a way that they enjoy their presence every single moment to the fullest valuably. Child care is actually a broad topic covering a wide number of contents, activities, social and cultural conventions, and institutions. So, early child care, as is very often required, is a very important and often overlooked component of child development. Quality care from a very young age can have huge impact on the future success of children.
Keeping this broad aspect well in mind, the iHEAR brings forth the service of BOA (Behavioural observation audiometry) and hopes to prosper followed by proper co-ordination from the reader’s side looking forward towards proper health care and early detection of any malfunction of organs within the body of our future leaders. This can be compressed to, ‘a method to care for the hearing capability of children in their developmental ages (0-6 months)’. It can also be said that BOA is used for infants who are developmentally unable to turn their head in the direction of a particular sound. School going children are generally capable of raising their hands or pressing a button when they hear a particular sound. Hearing testing for toddlers or infants and children with additional needs requires a little more creativity. In this case, the audiologist works with the parent to figure out the best possible method for the child’s hearing. This where BOA is essentially needed. Additional tests are often required to supplement BOA.
Behavioural observation audiometry (BOA) – a method to observe the motor responses of young children to test the sound intensities to determine an individual’s hearing threshold. In other words, BOA involves presenting sounds to a baby and then observing their responses. This is done in children of developmental ages i.e. less than 6 months. The child’s responses include- quietness, widening of eye, startled expression, etc.
The necessity of BOA- hearing level prediction.
BOA measures the child’s response to sound across the frequency range of 250-8000 Hz. The audiologist uses a combination of tests to measure the child’s responses to sound and hence the function of his/her ears. Each of the tests measures a particular and different part of one’s auditory system and adds information to the audiogram. The responses given by the child are plotted on an audiogram (a graph showing overall picture of the child’s hearing). This audiogram helps us understand whether the child has access to his/her brain i.e. the brain co-ordinates the sounds present in the surroundings or no.
These responses helps in determining:
- Presence of hearing loss, if any
- Which model of hearing aid best supports the child
- Whether the child needs a cochlear implant or no
A child in his/her initial stage of hearing impairment experiences many unidentified or unnoticed symptoms. Many symptoms can be recorded in this case. A few can be listed below as:
- Less or minimal amount of hearing
- Buzzing in the ears after exposure to loud noise
- Experiencing “fullness” in the ears after leaving a noisy area
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
― Benjamin Franklin
This saying in simple words mean that it is much easier to do something to prevent a problem than to deal with it after it has happened. A few precautions initially taken could be useful as goes the proverb, “A stich in time saves nine”.
- Wearing hearing protection, such as earplugs or earmuffs
- Limited exposure to noisy activities
- Maintaining the decibel ratings of products
- Consulting a hearing health professional for routine check ups
Treatment- the way in which an individual behaves towards or deals with something. Treating a particular health issue means injecting a foreign particle (medicine) in an individual’s body. The treatment and cure fully depends on an individual’s amount of hearing loss.
iHEAR truly believes in the quote, “Be a voice, not an echo”- Albert Einstein. This means having pride in oneself and being the own person rather than following the footprints of others, especially if you don’t believe them.
This makes it unique at every point. Talking about its uniqueness on this particular field, it can be taken down to:
- Completely sound treated audio logical laboratory
- Highly qualified and trained professionals
- Sophisticated and technologically advanced equipments
- Speedy delivery of report(s) (just after completion of the test(s))
A specialist professional(s) is a must in this field. iHEAR provides the same- a qualified audiologist with a doctoral degree in audiology (Aud.D) registered under Rehabilitation council of India (according to norms of govt. of India