Module 1:

The
Profession
of Audiology
Reference material: Chapter 1
(Martin & Clark, 2019)
 • Describe the evolution of audiology as
a profession
• Discuss the differences between
licensure and certification and why an
audiologist might choose to become
certified
Learning • Describe the reasons that speech-
language pathologists may interact
Objectives: closely with audiologists as they
Module 1 provide services within their chosen
professions
• Discuss the impact of hearing loss on
individuals and society
• List specialty areas within audiology
and the employment settings where
audiologists may practice
 • Origins in “aural rehabilitation”
during/after WWII
• Hearing care services before
WWII
Evolution • Lack of hearing protection =
of noise induced hearing loss
Audiology • VA hospitals
• What role did Otologists and
Speech Pathologists play?
 • Influx of service personnel
Evolution reentering civilian life that created
of the need for the professions of
otology (the medical specialty
Audiology concerned with diseases of the ear)
(con’t) and speech pathology to work
together to form military-based
aural rehabilitation centers.
 • Supposedly, Audiology was coined as
a new word in 1945 simultaneously,
yet independently, by Dr. Raymond
Evolution Carhart and Norton Canfield, an
otologist active in the establishment
of of the military aural rehabilitation
Audiology programs.

(con’t) • Dr. Raymond Carhart is often called

the “father of audiology.”
• However…Carhart was an SLP ☺
AND there is evidence that the term
audiology was used as early as the mid
19030s
 An audiologist is defined as “an
individual who has attained the
education, training and license to
provide an array of services for the
Definition: identification, assessment,
diagnosis, and treatment of
Audiologist those with auditory or vestibular
impairment as well as the
prevention of such disorders”.
(American Academy of Audiology,
2004)
Routine Day in the Life of an Audiologist
• Diagnostic hearing evaluations
• Standard testing – Adults and children
• Newborn hearing testing
• Treatment of hearing loss
• Hearing aids and other assistive devices
• Implantable devices (bone anchored and
cochlear)
• Counseling
• Aural (re) habilitation
• Specialized testing
• Balance testing
• Retro-cochlear lesion testing
 Academic Preparation in Audiology

Academic training

4 years of
Audiology has A Ph.D. can also be
professional
transitioned to the completed in the area
preparation beyond
professional of audiology and/or
the bachelor’s degree
doctorate hearing science –
There are a few 3 year
research preparation
AuD programs
AuD – Doctor of as opposed to clinical
Audiology Clinically-focused preparation
AuD is the degree professional doctoral
designator for clinical program
doctorate in Audiology The final fourth year or
Entry level degree residency consists of a
full-time clinical
placement usually in a
paid position.
• The practice of audiology is regulated
in the United States through license
or registration in every state
• Licensure (and/or registration) is an
important form of consumer
protection, and loss of a license
prohibits an individual from practicing
audiology.
• To obtain an audiology license one
must: Licensure
• complete a prescribed course of
study
• Acquire clinical experience
(knowledge AND skills)
• passing score on a national
examination in audiology
Certification is not a legal
requirement for the practice of
audiology. Audiologists holding
membership in ASHA (American
Speech-Language-Hearing
Association) are required to hold
the Certificate of Clinical Certification
Competence (CCCs) in
Audiology, proving that a
designated level of preparation as
an audiologist has been met and
documented levels of continuing
education are maintained
throughout one’s career.
 • The American Speech Correction
Association was originally founded in
1927 and they adopted the new
profession of audiology in 1947. The
Professional name was changed to the American
Associations Speech-Language-Hearing Association
(ASHA) in 1978.
• ASHA sets standards for the
practice of audiology and accredits
academic programs for audiologist
and speech-language pathologists.
• American Academy of Audiology (AAA)
was founded in 1998 and is committed in
the progress of audiological services
through public awareness & increased
audiological services.
• Many other sub-specialty groups in the
area of Audiology (Example: Educational
Audiology Association)
 • Science
• Understanding how hearing and balance
work from an anatomical and
physiological basis
• Understanding how to accurate measure
hearing, processing of auditory
Audiology: information and vestibular functions

Art & • Development and deployment of

technology to enhance hearing ability in
Science those who have hearing loss
• Art
• Patient engagement
• Recognizing and acknowledging the
impact that hearing loss and balance
disorders have on a human (and his/her
extended family)
Prevalence of Hearing Loss

• 48 million Americans report some degree of hearing

loss
• The prevalence of hearing loss increases with age
• In the U.S. there are 16 million people over the age
of 65 years who have hearing loss
• Over 80% of children in the United States will
experience at least one ear infection by the age of 3

• Prevalence = ALL cases during a time period

 • For children with recurrent or persistent
problems with ear infections, the
developmental impact is uncertain
• The impact of severe and permanent
hearing loss has a marked impact on a
Impact child’s developing speech and language
and educational performance as well as
of on the psychosocial dynamics within
Hearing the family and among peer groups
Loss in • The total annual costs for the treatment
of childhood ear infections may be as
Children high as $5 billion in the United States
• The figure becomes staggering when
consider the costs of educational
programs and habilitative services for
those with permanent hearing loss
 • Left untreated, hearing loss among adults
can seriously erode relationships both
within and outside the family unit
• Adult hearing loss is related to overall poor
Impact health, decreased physical activity, and
of depression

Hearing • Progressive hearing loss among older

adults is associated with increased physical
Loss in and psychosocial dysfunction
Adults • Loss of income can occur and this impacts
a person’s earning potential
• Most people with hearing loss are in the
prime of their lives
• The largest number of audiologists
are employed within a medical
environment, including:
• Community and regional
hospitals
• Physician’s office
• Health maintenance
organizations
• Military based programs
(Veteran’s Administration)
• Specialty focus is on: Medical
• Provision of diagnostic
assessment to establish the
location of hearing disorders
Audiology
within the auditory system
• Newborn-hearing-loss-
identification programs
• Monitoring the hearing level of
patients being treated with
medications that can harm
hearing
• The Educational Audiology
Association (EAA) asserts that
educational audiologists are the
professionals uniquely qualified to
ensure that all students have adequate
access to auditory information in their
educational settings.
• Outside of typical evaluation and
treatment of hearing loss via
amplification, educational audiologist
are often involved in:
Educational
• Education law/regulations Audiology
• Classroom amplification
• Impact of hearing loss in day-to-
day activity
• Assess and intervene in how a
student functionally accesses
auditory info in classroom
• Pediatric audiologists work with
children and their families
• Assessment and treatment of hearing
in a pediatric pts is different than with
adult pts
• Must be prepared to bring empathy
to their clinical endeavors to help
guide parents and families through a
difficult time in their lives Pediatric
• Primary role is facilitating the family's
efforts to meet many (re)habilitative Audiology
challenges the child and the family
will face
• Work settings: pediatric hospitals,
large rehabilitation centers and
community-based hearing and speech
centers
• The National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health
stated that more than 30 million
workers are exposed to hazardous
noise levels which results in noise-
induced occupational hearing loss
• Role of Industrial Audiologists:
• Design hearing conservation
programs to identify and
measure excessive noise areas
• Consult in the reduction of noise
Industrial
levels produced by industrial
equipment Audiology
• Monitor employee hearing levels
• Provide education for those
employees with excessive noise
exposure
• Part-time contracted consultants or in
conjunction with attorneys, industrial
physicians, industrial hygienists,
safety engineers, and industrial
relations within management
• Audiologists have become very active
in the total hearing rehabilitation of
their patients, and they are attracted
to the autonomy afforded by an
independent practice

Dispensing/
Rehabilitative
Audiology
 Employment Roles & Settings

Roles Settings
More than 80 percent of The majority of audiologists are
surveyed audiologists report employed within a medical
that they are direct providers of environment (hospital, clinic or
clinical services physician’s office)
Other primary employment 2nd largest employment setting
functions of audiologists is private practice
include researcher,
administrator, or university
teacher
 • Government
• Clinic
• Hospital
• Military/VA
Employment • Manufacturer
Settings for • Private practice (Owners and
Audiologists employees)
• ENT/Physicians offices
• College/University
• Corporate audiology group
practice
• Primary/Secondary school
 What is a “scope of
practice”?
Scope of
Practice
Be sure to read over the two
documents in the instructions for this for
module to understand what is within
the scope of practice for an audiologist Audiology
 • Speech-language pathologists often find
Speech that they work in close concert with
audiologists
Pathologists
• Children: Hearing loss can have a
and direct impact on speech and
Audiologists language development
• Older adults: Have a higher
incidence of age-related
Working communication disorders.
• It is the frequent coexistence of hearing
Together disorders and speech/language problems
that has led the American Speech-
Language-Hearing Association to include
the following within the speech-
language pathologist’s scope of practice:
• Hearing-screening procedures
• Therapeutic aspects of audiological
rehabilitation
• Basic checks of hearing aid
performance