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Audiology Clinic
Dr. Harrison, the Senior Medical Officer who runs this clinic, writes:-
For the first four months of the year the clinic was out of service due to staff illness,
but it can be said that the clinic now provides a viable and established service though it
cannot be said to be fully staffed by an audiological team.
Referrals were made in the main by the Local Authority Medical Officers from Infant
Welfare Centres and Schools but it was gratifying to find the clinic being used also by
consultant otolaryngologists, consultant paediatricians and general practitioners. The number
of referrals have steadily increased since the service commenced in November 1967 and in
December 1969 there was a six week waiting list for an initial consultation after referral. It
is considered that this is too long for a child with a suspected hearing loss to wait for investigation
and in order to deal with the work it is necessary to allocate more time to the Medical
Officer in Charge or to broaden the team by training or employing technical assistance. The
children referred varied in age from infants of 4-5 months who were known to be especially
"at risk" from causes either before or after birth; to children of school age varying from 5-16
years of age. Occasional requests for investigation of hearing in adults have also been received.
A simple statistical analysis is shown at the end of this report indicating the outcome
of the work during 1969. It is hoped that in future more detailed analyses will be possible.
Young children at school with a loss of 20-30 decibels can be in difficulty educationally,
and in infants a hearing loss of any degree can interfere considerably with the acquisition of
speech and language. Early diagnosis of hearing loss is, therefore, vital and if the loss is of
a sensori-neural nature early auditory training and parent-guidance by the Peripatetic Teacher
of the Deaf is essential. The Peripatetic Teacher also visits children in ordinary schools with
hearing losses as frequently as possible. When a diagnosis of defective hearing is made no
effort is spared to explain to parents the degree and nature of their child's hearing loss and
of the possible difficulties the child may encounter in his home, in the school and in the
community, and to advise on how these difficulties can best be overcome or minimised.
One highlight of the year was to be able to inform parents who had both suffered from a
hearing loss from birth that they had been fortunate enough to have an infant daughter with
entirely normal hearing. She was later admitted to a day nursery where she is sharing normal
childhood experiences with hearing children.
It is to be hoped that for the future a full screening programme of children attending
school can be initiated.

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