Assessment of Central Auditory Function in the Severely Multi-Handicapped Child

Abstract

The severely multihandicapped child poses intriguing problems to the audiologist who is attempting to assess auditory status. The current literature suggests that recent advances in both behavioral testing methods and physiologic measurement procedures have substantially reduced the problems of examining the peripheral auditory mechanism in this population (Cox, 1976; Decker and Wilson, 1977; Fisch and Back, 1961; Fulton and Lloyd, 1975; Lowell, 1976). However, researchers in the field have largely ignored the assessment of central auditory function in severely multihandicapped children. This article will examine several issues involving the assessment of central auditory function in the severely multihandicapped child with four specific goals: (1) to evaluate the definition of central auditory function as it applies to the population of severely multihandicapped children, (2) to explore the role of the audiologist who evaluates this population, (3) to discuss several possible evaluation strategies, and (4) to examine the potential prognostic and therapeutic value of assessing central auditory function in this specific population.