20Q With Gus Mueller CEU Courses

This course describes the origins and current views on the auditory processing disorder (APD) construct. This course includes a discussion of the identification of the “gold” or reference standard test (or test battery) used for the diagnosis of an APD.

This article reviews Medicare coverage policies for audiology services. An overview of health policy statutes related to audiologist participation in the Medicare program are provided.

Part 1 discussed how a decline in some elements of cognition and auditory processing alters speech perception during normal aging. This course considers how hearing aids may help or hinder speech perception for older adults. The author discusses how different hearing aid settings can affect the speech signal and consider practical ways we can use this in the clinic to offer the optimum fitting for an individual, in particular how we should set up hearing aid compression.

Many aspects of cognition and auditory processing decline with normal aging, and this makes it difficult to hear in challenging situations, even without the additional problems caused by peripheral hearing loss. There is a huge amount of literature about hearing and aging. This course summarizes relevant findings and discusses the processes of normal aging that particularly affect speech perception.

This course describes hearing aid verification procedures that use and build upon setting gain to targets. With advanced tests of specific signal processors, and headphone systems that allow real-time listening checks during fitting sessions, we can improve patient engagement, provide better fittings, and save time in troubleshooting.

This course reviews how speech-in-noise (SIN) testing can be routinely used in the clinical setting, both for identifying functional capabilities, and for the selection and fitting of hearing aids. Specific attention is given to the QuickSIN test, describing applications, clinical protocols and test interpretation. Step-by-step guidelines and case studies are provided.

Music and speech have some differences which include spectral shape, intensity, and “crest factors”. Most modern digital hearing aids cannot handle the more intense inputs that are characteristic of music. New hearing aid technologies and clinically efficient strategies will be provided to optimize hearing aids for music as well as for speech. These technologies and clinical strategies are designed to both circumvent some of the limitations with current hearing aids and to optimize the quality of amplified music.

This course details research describing how hearing loss can affect a person's social and emotional well-being and how audiology services can better meet the social and emotional needs of their client base. Dr. Bennett shares her research which explored the barriers preventing audiologists from incorporating social and emotional well-being support into routine care and the intervention program she and her team developed to help audiologists address these barriers. Course attendees will learn tips for prioritizing client needs and links to downloadable resources to help them embed social and emotional well-being support into their practice.

The course reviews new candidacy criteria for cochlear implantation, including when to consider referring for a cochlear implantation evaluation, considerations specific to new patient populations, and outcomes of cochlear implant use observed for these patient populations. The course also reviews the use of imaging to personalize the mapping of cochlear implant and electric-acoustic stimulation devices.

This article details the latest developments in the field of auditory biotechnologies that aim to medically treat hearing loss using a series of different approaches. The biotechnologies described in this interview include both restorative and protective treatments, and some of the molecular and cellular mechanisms behind these treatments are described along with the most likely patient populations for early clinical trials. Finally, the current state of offerings for auditory biotechnologies is also reviewed, and readers are pointed to appropriate information to connect their patients to upcoming clinical trials.