Clinical Practice Guidelines: Pediatric Amplification
Description
This document was prepared by the American Academy of Audiology Task Force on Pediatric Amplification. The specific goal of this document is to provide a set of statements, recommendations, and strategies for best practices specific to the application of amplification as part of a comprehensive treatment plan for the audiological management of children with hearing loss.
Key Points
This guideline addresses the technical aspects of hearing aid selection, fitting, verification, and outcomes assessments. It does not address treatment solely with cochlear implants, but does touch on cochlear implants used in conjunction with a hearing aid on the contralateral ear.
This guideline is not intended to serve as a standard to dictate precisely how hearing aids should be selected, verified, or validated. This guideline is meant to provide the evidence base from which the clinician can make individualized decisions for each patient.
In addition, the guideline can help inform physicians, reimbursement agencies, government agencies, the hearing health-care industry, patients, families, and caregivers about what research evidence demonstrates are current best practices related to amplification.
Finally, although this guideline addresses the technical aspects involved in the fitting of hearing aids, the audiologist is reminded that the process of fitting hearing aids is an ongoing one requiring joint participation of the audiologist, patient, and family/caregivers. As indicated, input should also be sought from the early intervention provider, the classroom teacher, and other pertinent stakeholders.
Get Involved
Whether serving on a clinical document development panel or participating as peer reviewers, volunteers have regular chances to deepen their engagement with the Academy and make important contributions benefiting the field of audiology. If you are interested in clinical document development, please volunteer to express interest and submit a CV to the Academy’s guidelines staff by email.
To view the list of guidelines and strategic documents in development and to learn more about the Academy’s clinical document development process, visit the Academy’s Practice Resources website. Information from interested members is accepted on an ongoing basis, and members will be contacted as clinical document volunteer openings occur.
