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Infants can be screened for hearing loss even before they leave the hospital. In fact, 38 states and the District of Columbia now have mandatory Universal Newborn Hearing Screening programs.
Two methods are used to help determine an infant’s hearing sensitivity to speech and other sounds in their environment – an auditory brainstem response and otoacoustic emissions testing. Today's automated hearing screening machines do all the work, so even a sleeping baby's hearing can be measured. Hearing screenings are not painful or invasive and take only a few minutes. - Automated Brainstem Response (ABR): Sounds are presented through earphones while the baby rests quietly or sleeps. Brainstem responses to sound are measured through small electrodes, which are taped to the infant’s head. These responses are processed by a computer.
- Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE): A small probe tip is inserted into the infant’s ear canal to measure the function of the inner ear, or cochlea.
These early exams are referred to as "screenings" rather than "tests," because their results only indicate whether a baby is likely to have a hearing loss. If an initial screening comes back "positive," then a second screening and follow-up testing are performed to confirm whether a hearing loss is present and, if so, the type and nature of the loss.
In the hospital, nurses, aides or other hospital personnel may do the screening, but the test interpretation and follow-up evaluation should be performed by an audiologist. If a hearing loss is suspected, a pediatrician can refer your child to an otolaryngologist to explore causes of hearing loss which could be medically or surgically corrected. Some parents also decide to seek genetic counseling because some causes of hearing loss are hereditary. You may want to know whether you or your spouse carries a gene for hearing loss, or whether the hearing loss is part of a "syndrome" or cluster of symptoms, which may be expressed in related medical problems.
Parents need to know that early identification gives them the opportunity to gather information about the various communication options to help them make informed decisions about their child's future from the very start. Providing babies with better quality sound through hearing technology – hearing aids and cochlear implants – and early intervention gives them access to spoken language and allows them to begin learning through hearing. |