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Home › Articles › Toddler Health › Do You Hear What I Hear?

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Hearing Difficulty, Loss and Screening

By Carma Haley Shoemaker

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

"My son was never tested when he was born," says Carol Hydel, a mother of four from Chesterfield, Va. "We didn't have a clue as to his hearing loss until he was almost 18 months old. When the pediatrician suggested that he might have a hearing difficulty, we had to get a referral for a screening. Maybe if he was tested at birth – or shortly after – we could have [begun] working with him sooner."

Diagnosis
Historically, the median age for diagnosis of a hearing difficulty is 2 1/2 years old. Dr. Lotke says with the use of newborn hearing screening the age of diagnosis is much, much sooner.

The average age of diagnosis in years past has been between ... 2 and 3 years of age," says Dr. Lotke "With medical advancements and implementation of newborn screening we can now diagnosis the possibility of hearing loss or deafness in children at the age of 2 hours, and at 2 days can have confirmed the diagnosis. There are no reasons to wait for problematic signs before getting a child tested."

Susan Chyczewski of State College, Pa., says the first indication of a possible hearing problem in her son was his speech delay. "Our older son still did not have more than two words at the age of 20 months," she says. "Since he was already experiencing delays in gross motor skills and did not take his first steps until 20 months and was now having difficulty with developing speech, we became concerned and had a speech therapist evaluate him. She recommended having his hearing evaluated as a precaution. Thankfully, his hearing was fine and he tested well."

Even with modern advancements, the technique of diagnosing a hearing loss in a newborn is not without drawbacks. The process of newborn hearing screening is ne of the many medical procedures under scrutiny and controversy.


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