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Hearing Loss and Children
Hearing Loss in Newborns - Did you know...
- 12,000 babies are born each year in the U.S. with a hearing impairment
- The average lifetime cost associated with hearing loss is about $417,000 per person
- About 90% of babies with congenital hearing impairment are born to hearing parents
- Hearing loss is the number one birth defect in children
Hearing impairment can be inherited (genetic) or nongenetic. Nongenetic causes include illness or injury occurring before, during or after birth. Genetic factors are believed to cause 33 percent of cases of hearing impairment in infants and young children. Scientists believe that mutations in as many as 400 genes may contribute to hearing impairment!
Hearing loss can affect a child’s speech, language, cognitive, and psychosocial development. Treatment is most successful if the hearing loss is identified early - through newborn screening done during the first few months of life. For many children with hearing loss, the cause is unknown.
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all babies be screened for hearing impairment before 1 month of age, preferably before they leave the hospital. This is because language and communication develop rapidly during the first two to three years of life and undetected hearing impairment can lead to delays in developing these skills. Without newborn screening, children with hearing impairment usually are not diagnosed until 2 to 3 years of age.
Newborns are screened for hearing impairment with one of two tests. Both tests measure how a baby responds to sound. The tests take 5 to 10 minutes, are painless and can be done when the baby is sleeping. The otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test, a small microphone is placed in the baby’s ear. The microphone, connected to a computer, sends soft clicking sounds or tones into the ear and records the inner ear’s response to sound. In the automated auditory brainstem response (ABR) test, soft clicking sounds are presented to the ear through small earphones. Sensors placed on the head and connected to a computer measure brain wave activity in response to sound.
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