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It is not uncommon for babies to be born with impaired hearing. One to three out of 1,000 babies have moderate to severe hearing impairment. About half of these babies do not have any risk factors.
Hearing Impairment
Hearing impairment is a hidden disability. In the past, it was often identified too late, when the child had failed to develop normal speech and language. By which time, the window of opportunity for early treatment had already closed.
It has been shown that deaf children, if diagnosed and treated before the age of six months, can have essentially normal language development by three years of age. Late diagnosis, on the other hand, can lead to persistent two to four-year delays in a child’s language development.
Without the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS), it would be difficult to detect hearing loss within the crucial early months of a baby’s life.
Newborn babies are not too young to have their hearing screened. Newborn hearing screening—the Otoacoustic Emission test (OAE) or the automated auditory brainstem response (ABR)— only requires your baby to be in a quiet state. It can be done quickly, in about 10 minutes, and is painless and harmless.
Testing with an OAE device involves placing a small probe into the ear canal. The probe produces a series of clicking sounds and the baby’s ear response is measured. In automated ABR testing, jelly tab sensors are placed on the head, sounds are played to the baby and its brain responses measured.
When can screening be done?
Screening is usually done within the first few days after birth and, often, before the baby is discharged from the hospital. Hearing tests may sometimes be repeated if the baby does not pass the first screening. Such babies will have to undergo more tests to determine if they have a hearing problem. If deafness / hearing impairment is confirmed, treatment and early intervention can be started promptly.
What do the results mean?
A ‘Pass’ on the hearing screening does not rule out hearing impairment / deafness later in your child’s life. Hearing loss can occur at any time. It is important that you continue to monitor your child’s speech and language development. If you are concerned about your child’s development or hearing, you should have his or her hearing tested again.
By offering early detection and intervention for hearing impairment in infants, Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) can minimise the damaging, long-term effects of deafness on many aspects of a child’s development, including speech and language, social, emotional, cognitive and academic. |