APPLICATION

Complex Needs & Developmental Delay

Estimating audibility objectively when developmental or physical complexity makes behavioural testing unreliable.

What the cortical response shows

  • Present cortical responses across frequencies build an objective audibility profile; their absence, once state and noise are excluded, guides further investigation.[11]
0100200300400latency (ms)Cortical response
When behavioural audiometry cannot be conditioned reliably, a present cortical response to calibrated stimuli objectively confirms that sound is reaching the cortex.

Why the cortical response here

  • Children and adults with developmental delay or complex needs may not give conditioned behavioural responses, leaving objective measures to carry the assessment.[17]
  • The cortical response is recorded passively in an awake, non-attending listener, which suits patients who cannot perform a task.[5]

How it changes management

  • The objective profile underpins decisions about amplification and habilitation that behavioural testing alone could not support.

TEACHING POINT

When a patient cannot do the task, the obligatory cortical response still answers the basic question — did the sound reach the cortex?[5]

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