Test Preparation
How does one prepare a youngster for Auditory Integration Training testing?
Practice for the ear test
There are many means of having your child practice for their hearing test using the OAE equipment. For those parents using Applied Behavior Analysis or Discrete Trial Training for their child, they can have the therapists or teachers teach a “wait” drill.
Step One
The test will take approximately 2 minutes per ear when a child sits perfectly quietly. But given that many children are unable to do this, start with just a few quiet seconds of sitting then lengthen the drill time. It is important during the OAE test that the child will remain very quiet. All other adults/therapists should refrain from speaking during the test too. We often whisper to the children, but this is an un-voiced form of speech, very, very quiet. The child’s hands should be left in their lap. We use the instruction: “hands down”.
Step Two
Once “wait” it learned, add more dimension to it. For instance, for those children who are extremely sensitive about having their head or ears touched, you must also practice the “wait” with touching. The touch we give is a sustained feeling of something placed within the ear canal. So you can start with just touching the ear zone with a cotton-tipped swab. Eventually, you’ll have to practice with the cotton-tipped swab placed in the outer ear canal. Count out loud for a few seconds, then make the touch last longer & longer to coincide with the 2 minute “wait” drill.
Step Three
Then experiment with different textures placed within the ear canal. I have pictured some ear plugs most commonly used in air travel. These are soft silicon types. 
Ones which use a sliding and twisting motion to insert them into the ear canal. They have small extensions on them, so they can be easily pulled out.
Step Four
Use small ear bud headsets, that you see people listening to walkman radios and CD players with. These types just sit in the ear, (not the over the head or behind the head types) – just the “in-the-ear-types”. Then use a small radio with the tuner put in between stations, so that it results in soft static. Have the child wear one earbud at a time, while sitting quietly for the final part of the “wait” drill. Then place the earbud in the other ear for a quiet “wait.”
Important Points
It is important that an adult, or therapist or teacher insert the ear swabs or ear plugs and eventually the earbuds for the child. Sometimes, parents want the child to place the real test probe instead of having either Michael or Marcy place the ear probe when the OAE test is being performed. This is a bad idea, since it is very important for the AIT provider to do the fit in order ensure accurate placement of the OAE probe. Michael and Marcy coordinate the OAE probe placement with the response readout from their computers to ensure a good seal and good reading. So during the practice sessions, its important that the therapist do the earplug placement for the child.
Another important point is that this “wait” drill will come in very handy for other medical type of tests. So the outfall of this drill will have other generalized benefits too. Make sure that during the drill, the child is positioned comfortably. We get better results if the child is relaxed. Swallowing, chewing, sucking fingers or pacifiers or craning their necks, holding their breath, filling their cheeks with air all produce interference for the OAE test. With some children with low muscle tone, the mouth and neck movements may change the contour of the ear canal. When this happens, the test results change.
Our ideal test
The child is told that they will be given a test where a computer will “listen to their ears.” They will be told to sit in a chair. We usually test the left ear first. We show the probe to the child and demonstrate that the white probe tip is quite soft. Then, we insert the probe into the outer ear canal by pulling up slightly on the outer ear flap. We then type the child’s name in the computer and start up the test protocol. The child will hear a soft static sound & we view a result within 1 or 2 minutes. We congratulate the child on sitting quietly. The same procedure is used for the right ear and we look at the results, then decide upon the filtering settings for the modulated music during the subsequent listening sessions.