Audiology Assesment : Hearing tests for Autism

Be aware of literal responses. The classic psychiatrist's tale is the one where a child on the autistic spectrum was asked if he heard voices, to which he gave the honest answer "yes".

But what he meant was he could hear, not that he heard imaginary voices in his head, as the psychiatrist intended.

Because children with autism find eye contact difficult, they place greater reliance on the spoken word. Some children with autism therefore turn their ear towards the speaker to get the best of the audio input, because the visual input isn't helpful. But that could be interpreted as hard of hearing.

Also because they do not make good use of visual input (facial expression, gestures etc) they may misunderstand some spoken words, especially in informal situations where gesture and facial expression play a greater part. That could be misinterpreted as a hearing difficulty.

Some people find it difficult to focus on explanation, because it is tiring having to concentrate so much more. Or they may become absorbed in some detail, like a pattern on the wall, or the clothing/jewelry worn by the speaker, such that they miss some of what was said. Again not having fully understood what was said could be misinterpreted.

When there is background noise, especially complex background, people with autism are not good at filtering out this background, and it may affect what they hear. Also some people on the spectrum will hear distant conversations or sounds at almost the same volume as those near to them. This isn't peculiar to autism and indeded is quite a commonly reported problem, but it seems more prevalent with autism. The resulting break-up of speech may come over like a foreign language.

This is a big issue for me personally. I cannot 'mingle' in a social gathering because my comprehension of what is being said deteriorates rapidly. I can just manage to socially converse if I stand or sit near a wall, so the sounds come from one direction. Yet my hearing is still sharp without competition.

Similarly background noises of continuous pitch or slowly varying pitch can distract, or be experienced as pain.  Some fluorescent light tubes can be seen and even heard to flicker. Office equipment or medical equipment can be very irritating and compete, affecting what is picked up in conversation. Many visual stimuli as Moonlight indicates could compete and distract.

All this requires greater effort to follow a conversation and is therefore quickly tiring, so there may be a faster depreciation of apparent effective hearing in a consultation/ clinical session.

Testing the hearing of those on the autistic spectrum certainly needs an in depth understanding of factors influencing hearing that are other than due to actual physical hearing capability.

Be aware of literal responses. The classic psychiatrist's tale is the one where a child on the autistic spectrum was asked if he heard voices, to which he gave the honest answer "yes".

But what he meant was he could hear, not that he heard imaginary voices in his head, as the psychiatrist intended.

Because children with autism find eye contact difficult, they place greater reliance on the spoken word. Some children with autism therefore turn their ear towards the speaker to get the best of the audio input, because the visual input isn't helpful. But that could be interpreted as hard of hearing.

Also because they do not make good use of visual input (facial expression, gestures etc) they may misunderstand some spoken words, especially in informal situations where gesture and facial expression play a greater part. That could be misinterpreted as a hearing difficulty.

Some people find it difficult to focus on explanation, because it is tiring having to concentrate so much more. Or they may become absorbed in some detail, like a pattern on the wall, or the clothing/jewelry worn by the speaker, such that they miss some of what was said. Again not having fully understood what was said could be misinterpreted.

When there is background noise, especially complex background, people with autism are not good at filtering out this background, and it may affect what they hear. Also some people on the spectrum will hear distant conversations or sounds at almost the same volume as those near to them. This isn't peculiar to autism and indeded is quite a commonly reported problem, but it seems more prevalent with autism. The resulting break-up of speech may come over like a foreign language.

This is a big issue for me personally. I cannot 'mingle' in a social gathering because my comprehension of what is being said deteriorates rapidly. I can just manage to socially converse if I stand or sit near a wall, so the sounds come from one direction. Yet my hearing is still sharp without competition.

Similarly background noises of continuous pitch or slowly varying pitch can distract, or be experienced as pain.  Some fluorescent light tubes can be seen and even heard to flicker. Office equipment or medical equipment can be very irritating and compete, affecting what is picked up in conversation. Many visual stimuli as Moonlight indicates could compete and distract.

All this requires greater effort to follow a conversation and is therefore quickly tiring, so there may be a faster depreciation of apparent effective hearing in a consultation/ clinical session.

Testing the hearing of those on the autistic spectrum certainly needs an in depth understanding of factors influencing hearing that are other than due to actual physical hearing capability.