Clinical Audiology Services Northeastern University

Clinical Audiology Services

The first step in determining your hearing ability is with a diagnostic hearing evaluation. If you have hearing loss, the evaluation will detail the extent, type, and specifics of your loss.
The diagnostic hearing evaluation consists of a variety of tests to determine the unique aspects of your hearing, as well as the level at which you can detect and understand speech. We evaluate a wide scope of patients ranging from pediatrics to seniors.

Did You Know?

  • Approximately 36 million Americans suffer from hearing loss.

  • More than half of the people with hearing loss are younger than age 65.

  • Untreated hearing loss can affect your ability to understand speech and can negatively impact your social and emotional well-being.

  • Hearing loss is the third most common health problem in the United States.

~ American Academy of Audiology

Check out Dr. Laffan’s hearing loss tips during COVID-19.

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Comprehensive Diagnostic Audiology Evaluations For Adults

Diagnostic hearing evaluations identify hearing loss and give your audiologist important information to help determine the best course of action for treatment. Some types of hearing loss can be treated medically or surgically, so it’s important that these types of hearing losses be ruled out before hearing aids or other treatments are considered.

The diagnostic hearing evaluation consists of a variety of tests to determine the unique aspects of your hearing loss, as well as the level at which you can detect and understand speech.

Comprehensive Pediatric Diagnostic Hearing Evaluations

Developmentally appropriate diagnostic audiologic evaluations for children and infants/toddlers are customized to the child’s individual needs, with developmentally-appropriate behavioral and objective measures.

Auditory Processing Evaluations

The Northeastern University Speech-Language-Hearing Center is one of the few facilities in Massachusetts to offer central auditory processing evaluations, or CAP assessments. We specialize in determining if students have CAPD. We provide schools, the community, and families with appropriate recommendations to best accommodate the student’s listening needs.

Children need to be at least seven years old to have a CAP Evaluation.

Hearing Screenings

In children between 3 and 5 years of age, hearing screenings can help identify hearing loss that may affect development, interfere with future performance in school, or indicate a medical condition (e.g., middle or inner ear disorder). Northeastern provides hearing community-based hearing screenings to various Head Start and preschool based programs. Please contact us at 617-373-2492 for further information.

Custom Musician's Ear Protectors and In-Ear Monitors

Musicians need to protect their hearing, but they also need to be able to hear their own music clearly, as well as hear other musicians’ music and voices while performing.

  • Musicians face nearly four times greater risk of developing hearing loss and are 57% more likely to develop tinnitus due to exposure to loud noise.
  • Almost any instrument can harm your hearing, if played loud enough over a long period of time. They can be just as damaging as power tools.
  • We offer Custom Musician’s Earplugs with a choice of ER9, ER15, or ER25 dB filters.
  • One set of filters comes with the custom earplugs; however additional filters can be purchased separately to protect all your listening needs.
Musical Example Typical Loudness Range (in Decibels) Recommended Exposure Time Range
Piano 60 dB to 95 dB 47 minutes to 25+ hours
Chamber music in small auditorium 75 dB to 85 dB 8 hours to 25+ hours
Violin 84 dB to 103 dB 7 minutes to 10 hours 5 minutes
Cello 82 dB to 92dB 1 hours 35 minutes to 16 hours
Oboe 90dB to 94dB 1 hour to 2 hours 31 minutes
Flute 85dB to 111dB 1 minute to 8 hours
Piccolo 95 dB to 112dB 1 minute to 47 minutes
Clarinet 92 dB to 103dB 7 minutes to 1 hour 35 minutes
French Horn 90dB to 106dB 3 minutes to 2 hours 31 minutes
Trombone 85 dB to 114 dB less than 1 minute to 8 hours
Timpani & bass drum rolls 106 dB 3 minutes
Symphonic music peak up to 137 dB less than 1 minute
Amplified rock music, 4 to 6 feet away 120dB to 150dB less than 1 minute

Designed for musicians who perform for large audiences, in-ear musician monitors are the current standard in musician technology. They allow the musician to clearly hear the music they are making as the audience would hear it while still protecting the musician’s ears from extremely loud amplification systems and audiences.

Hearing Aid Fittings, Repairs, & Programming

There are many steps that are part of a hearing aid evaluation. If you suspect that you might need a hearing aid, you will first need to have a hearing evaluation. The audiologist will review the type of hearing loss as well as how it is affecting a patient’s life and recommend the “best fit” with the patient’s medical condition, lifestyle, and budget from a variety of hearing aid models.

When the hearing aid arrives, a patient will return to work with the audiologist to fine tune the incoming sounds using a special computer program.

Significant technological advances have been made to improve digital amplification. Many of the new digital aids can be easily adjusted for background and environmental noises, improving patient satisfaction.

We carry full lines of Phonak, Oticon, Widex, Starkey and Siemens hearing aids.

Scheduling Appointments

Appointment times vary. Please call the Speech-Language and Hearing Center at 617-373-3698 or email Claudia Lywood at [email protected] to schedule an appointment.