SEPTEMBER

Hearing Screening Programmes

The final year Audiology students conducted a hearing screening programme on the 17th, 18th and 24th of September with 11 children at a Child Development Centre in Ragama, 45 teachers at Anuradha Balika Vidyalaya in Colombo and 33 students of the Heenkenda Primary School in Horape. The children of the Child Development Centre were chosen as they have limited opportunities to access Audiological services and because we were keen to promote hearing hygiene. The school teachers were chosen as they are often exposed to excessive levels of noise in the classrooms for long durations and hence can develop Noise Induced Hearing Loss. The children of the primary school were chosen as hearing difficulties can influence language development and access to the curriculum. We used the screening protocol of a brief history, otoscopy and distortion product otoacoustic emission screening. Participants who failed the screening procedure were referred to the on-going audiological clinics at the Faculty for follow-up diagnostic testing.