Your Office Visit

Below are forms to download regarding your medical history and audiology concerns. Please have these forms filled out and ready prior to your visit.
Download Adult Forms Download Pediatric Forms

• The appointment is approximately 1 hour in duration. The first fifteen minutes will be a review of your case history, a visual exam of your ear canals and tympanic membranes using an otoscope, and a check of your eardrums’ mobility using a tympanometer.
• The hearing test will occur in a sound treated booth. This test will last approximately twenty minutes. The audiologist will put earphones in your ear canals.  The door to the sound booth will be closed; the audiologist will sit outside the booth at the audiometer and start the test. You will be instructed that during the test you will hear a beep.  When you hear a beep, click the response button.   The beeps will become very soft.  Continue toclick the button even if the beeps are very soft.

After testing is completed, the audiologist will escort you to a counseling room and your results will be reviewed with you. An official report will be mailed to you soon after.

If hearing loss is present and you are interested in learning about hearing aids, you will need a hearing aid consultation. This may have been scheduled in conjunction with the hearing testing. If not, then this appointment will need to be scheduled on another day. At the hearing aid consultation, the need for a hearing aid will be discussed based on the patient’s hearing loss. The benefits and limitations of hearing aids will be reviewed. Hearing aid styles and levels of technology will be explainedand the patient may select a hearing aid at this time or you may take this information home with you and make you selection after you have reviewed all of the information. For some types of hearing aids, animpression of the patient’s ear canal must be made. An ear impression isneeded to make a custom fitting hearing aid which will sit comfortably in the ear canal. Some aids that sit behind the ear do not require an impression. This type of aid is suitable for patients who may have hearing in the normal to near normal range in the low pitched frequencies or tones.

• Hearing aids can be purchased through personal finances, through your insurance company or with the assistance of an agency.
• Albuquerque speech Language and Hearing Center is an in-network provider with most insurance companies. We would be glad to check with you insurance company to see if you have any benefits that would cover any or all of your purchase.
• As a non-profit we also work with many other agencies that can help with the purchase of hearing aids for those who qualify for assistance. You can ask our front office staff for information on these programs.

At Albuquerque Speech Language Hearing Center, the purchase of a hearing aid also includes the following services.

• Administer a formal assessment of communication needs/challenges.
• Work with each patient to develop treatment plan tailored to their individual needs.
• Work with each patient to select the most appropriate hearing aids and assistive listening devices to treat their hearing loss and address their communication needs.
• Take impressions of the ears for custom fitting devices and ear molds.
• Provide custom programming of hearing instruments using state-of-the art equipment.
• Perform probe microphone measurements to verify hearing aid performance and to ensure that the hearing aids are fit to each patient’s individual prescription. Perform follow-up visits for hearing aid adjustments, modifications to the physical fit as needed,  and routine maintenance at no charge during the manufacturer’s warranty period (Loss, damage and service covered for 2 years)
• Administer a formal outcome measure to validate the treatment goals have been met.
• Train patient on the proper use, care, and maintenance of their hearing aids.
• Educate clients on various communication strategies they can use to get the most benefit from their hearing aids and/or assistive listening devices.
• Four free office visits with an audiologist (30 minutes in duration).
• Free hearing aid cleanings and checks by our technician while the hearing aid is under warranty.
• Warranty coverage to cover the repair or loss of the hearing aid.

Download Hearing Aid Bank Application

On the day of the hearing aid fitting, the hearing aid will be placed in the ear. The volume of the hearing aid will then be fine-tuned through the computer to match a prescribed loudness calculated from your degree of hearing loss. This process uses probe microphone measures which is the industry’s gold standard for verification of the hearing aid settings. This prescribed volume may be overwhelming initially; the audiologist can decrease the volume to assist in comfort. This is okay and will be temporary. By wearing the hearing aid every day, your brain will become accustomed to hearing more sounds and will be ready for your hearing aids’ volume to be turned up. Learning to hear again with hearing aids is a rehabilitation process. It is a gradual adjustment, and follow up care is provided.

Albuquerque Speech Language and Hearing Center has been providing the highest of quality care to New Mexico’s residents since 1953. We are here for your continued care and any future needs.

Below are forms to download regarding your medical history and your speech language concerns. Please have these forms filled out and ready prior to your visit.

Download Adult Forms Download Youth Forms

Please sign in at the front desk and provide your forms to our administrative staff.

Depending on the circumstances, some parents may receive an answer the day of testing. However, in most cases, you can expect to receive a written report within four weeks of testing.

If a speech or language disorder is present, therapy may be recommended. Recommendations are on a case-by-case basis.