Audiology and Hearing Center

About our Audiology Center

Hearing loss can be a problem for people of any age, but it does not need to affect your quality of life. Many hearing problems can be treated medically or surgically, while permanent hearing loss can be treated with hearing aids 95 percent of the time.

What is an Audiologist?

An Audiologist is a highly trained individual that has a deep understanding of how to diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries related to the ear.

Why Should I See an Audiologist vs. a Hearing Aid/Instrument Specialist?

Audiologists have advanced levels of education and are required to have a Master’s or Doctorate level degree. Audiologists are trained to recommend specific types of hearing loss, and how to best manager how hearing loss impacts daily activities.

Hearing Instrument Specialists are not required to have the same high level of educational degrees as Audiologists and they provide services only for the testing, selection, and fitting of hearing instruments.

At Harrington, our Audiologist provides comprehensive, personalized audiology services to patients of all ages.

Our Services

We provide hearing evaluations, Bluetooth-assisted devices, device fittings, maintenance, Central Auditory Processing and much more.

During hearing aid evaluations at Harrington, our Audiologist will discuss what type of aid will work best for you. We use advanced techniques for customized fittings. While hearing aids won’t restore hearing to normal levels, they can definitely help. Thanks to technological advancements, like digital processing, patients are experiencing patients are experiencing greater comfort and better results.

Pediatric Audiology

The development of hearing in pediatric patients is critical. Reduced hearing can cause problems with speech and language development, listening, learning, behavior or social skills.

Our pediatric Audiology diagnostic hearing tests include Behavioral Observation Audiometry, Visual Reinforcement Audiometry, Conditioned Play Audiometry,  Conventional Audiometry and more. Our services include:

• Comprehensive Hearing Evaluations
• Follow-up and Counseling with Parents
• Fitting of Hearing Aids and other Amplification devices

Central Auditory Processing

Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) affects how your brain handles what it hears. You are able to hear sound, but may have difficulty comprehending what you heard.

CAPD is a problem that affects about 5 percent of school-aged children. Often children have difficulty hearing slightly different sounds or words because of background noise in school settings, on playgrounds or at sports events.

Testing for CAPD occurs twice over two visits. At the first appointment, we perform a comprehensive hearing evaluation to rule out hearing loss as a cause of the listening difficulties. At a second appointment, we perform the auditory processing evaluation, which includes activities such as listening in background
noise, listening with competing talkers, and detecting differences in pitch.

For more information about Central Auditory Processing, please download our brochure or call us for an appointment: 508-434-1435.

UMass Memorial Healthcare

508-765-9771

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