How the SBHT app works
The SBHT app has been developed for the iOS platform and works by providing both test instructions and an included mobile phone/device sound loudness meter.
The app’s sound loudness meter permits the mother to use her phone to measure the loudness of her voice as she speaks sounds to her sleeping baby during the hearing screen. By looking at her phone, the mother receives visual confirmation that she is speaking the test’s sounds to her baby at the correct loudness level of 60-70 dB and gives her an opportunity to adjust the loudness of her voice either up or down to maintain the 60-70 dB loudness target.
The original SBHT was developed by the late Dr. William F. House of the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles, CA. Dr. House worked with Shawn S. Goodman, Ph.D., audiologist, to promote the SBHT and create the original “Can My Baby Hear” video. The original SBHT was performed with a conventional sound level meter to measure the loudness of the mother’s voice.
Can My Baby Hear Video
The original video demonstrates performing the SBHT using a conventional sound level meter to measure the loudness of the mother’s voice as she performs the Sleeping Baby Hearing Test Screen with her newborn. Although functional, the use use of a conventional sound level meter was complicated both from: (1) how to actually use a sound level meter and (2) how to distribute sound level meters to concerned parents. The SBHT app provides both instructions as to how to perform the hearing screen and a convenient sound meter to measure the loudness of the mother’s voice as she speaks the screen’s test sounds to her sleeping baby.
With the development of the SBHT App, hearing health professionals and parents now have ready access to a free app and simple-to-use, built-in sound meter.
The current video clearly demonstrates for mothers how to perform the Sleeping Baby Hearing Screen. One caveat, the video contains an inaccurate statement.
If your newborn "Passes" the hearing screen, the video states that your baby has "normal hearing."
This statement is not accurate. Newborns who “Pass” the screen may still have one ear that does not hear well or does not hear at all. In reality, newborns with only one hearing ear may still develop speech and language normally and develop normal intellectual ability. Their main problem is the inability to localize sound.
The Foundation has plans to create Version 2.0 of the video using a smart-phone and a mobile device instead of a conventional sound level meter. Inaccurate video content will be corrected.