Approximately 33 babies are born every day with a significant hearing loss in the United States. Nearly 50% of newborns with hearing loss are not diagnosed until at least the second year of life. Hearing loss among newborns is 20 times more prevalent than phenlyketonuria (PKU), a condition for which all newborns are screened for. The average age that children with hearing loss are initially diagnosed ranges from 12 to 25 months. Studies have shown that when hearing loss is detected later, an important time frame for developing speech and language skills has passed. As a result, speech and language development is delayed and academic and social skills may be adversely affected. Research has confirmed that treatment has the best results when infant hearing loss is identified and intervention is begins before the child reaches six months of age. Less than 20% of the children born in the U.S. are born in hospitals that offer universal newborn hearing screening programs.The National Institute of Health, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Audiology, the Joint committee on Infant Hearing, and the Healthy People 2000 Report recommend that children with congenital hearing loss be identified before six months of age. A unilateral hearing loss that remains undetected will have negative consequences. Even children with a hearing loss in one ear are ten times as likely to be held back by a grade as compared to children with normal hearing in both ears. Infants identified with hearing loss may be fit with hearing amplification as young as four weeks of age. Appropriate and comprehensive early intervention helps these children develop with better language, cognitive, and social skills.Most children with hearing loss can hear some speech, however, the speech tends to lack clarity since the hearing loss occurs in the higher frequencies that contain most of the consonant and vowel sounds necessary for understanding speech. However, since the child is able to respond to the lower frequencies, he or she will usually be identified later on. As a result of late identification, speech and language skills will have significant delays. Early identification is necessary before sixth months of age in order to catch that specific time frame in which optimal speech and language development occurs. Formal audiological evaluations are needed to rule out less severe but equally disabling degrees of hearing loss.
Friday, October 31, 2008
newborn screening
Approximately 33 babies are born every day with a significant hearing loss in the United States. Nearly 50% of newborns with hearing loss are not diagnosed until at least the second year of life. Hearing loss among newborns is 20 times more prevalent than phenlyketonuria (PKU), a condition for which all newborns are screened for. The average age that children with hearing loss are initially diagnosed ranges from 12 to 25 months. Studies have shown that when hearing loss is detected later, an important time frame for developing speech and language skills has passed. As a result, speech and language development is delayed and academic and social skills may be adversely affected. Research has confirmed that treatment has the best results when infant hearing loss is identified and intervention is begins before the child reaches six months of age. Less than 20% of the children born in the U.S. are born in hospitals that offer universal newborn hearing screening programs.The National Institute of Health, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Audiology, the Joint committee on Infant Hearing, and the Healthy People 2000 Report recommend that children with congenital hearing loss be identified before six months of age. A unilateral hearing loss that remains undetected will have negative consequences. Even children with a hearing loss in one ear are ten times as likely to be held back by a grade as compared to children with normal hearing in both ears. Infants identified with hearing loss may be fit with hearing amplification as young as four weeks of age. Appropriate and comprehensive early intervention helps these children develop with better language, cognitive, and social skills.Most children with hearing loss can hear some speech, however, the speech tends to lack clarity since the hearing loss occurs in the higher frequencies that contain most of the consonant and vowel sounds necessary for understanding speech. However, since the child is able to respond to the lower frequencies, he or she will usually be identified later on. As a result of late identification, speech and language skills will have significant delays. Early identification is necessary before sixth months of age in order to catch that specific time frame in which optimal speech and language development occurs. Formal audiological evaluations are needed to rule out less severe but equally disabling degrees of hearing loss.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
1st month
Oct 3rd - failed initial hearing test (2 weeks old) Before Isaac and I were discharged from the hospital, we were instructed to visit the audiology department within the first couple of weeks for the new, easy, in and out, routine infant hearing screening. We made plans to do this on the same day as our 2 week well-baby appointment. Baby needs to be completely still and asleep for the test as it is a simple probe in each ear, one at at time. When the computer sends out different sounds his involuntary responses are recorded in sound waves. (or something like that, I guess)
Isaac was sound asleep when we arrived at the hospital so we decided to do the hearing test before seeing the pediatrician. I was busy getting the kids out of the car and still getting used to packing the diaper bag and all the baby gear so Grandma went on in ahead of us to get him signed in. By the time I got into the audiology suite, Isaac and Grandma were already in the sound room doing the test so I waited patiently outside with my girls. I thought it was a quick easy test but they had been in there for over 15 minutes so by the time they came out of the room, we were late for our well-baby appt. I called peds to explain our delay and went into the sound room with the audiologist for a re-test so he could show me what they'd been doing and explained that "the test" wasn't responding. The military audiologist does not have pediatric experience other than performing the routine newborn tests for all the babies born on the base. In his expereince, all the babies have passed the test. He didn't seem worried about it because the baby was very small and young...maybe he had extra fluid in his ears from birth that was affecting the test..."let's just give him a few weeks to grow and then we'll retest again next month," advised the audiologist. I was slightly concerned but since I had no previous experience with infant hearing tests and was assured by the audiologist and the pediatrician not to worry about it, I did my best to not be too alarmed and just follow the advice to retest next month. All is well. My baby is thriving and is pure joy in our home!
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