CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO AUDIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT IN YOUNG-CHILDREN

It is a continual challenge for clinical audiologists to obtain valid and reliable information concerning the auditory sensitivity and audit ory processing abilities of young children, especially those with lang uage disorders. The majority of the tests that are available for use w ith young children do not provide much information regarding the probl ems they are Likely to encounter in typical communication situations. This paper describes a new ''class'' of auditory tests designed to eva luate the ability of young children to (1) detect commonly encountered sounds, (2) localize sound sources, and (3) understand speech in nois e. These tests appear to be sensitive to the effects of auditory patho logy and to the normal development of auditory processing skills.