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HEARING LOSS AND INFANTS
My Baby Is Hard Of Hearing? What Shall I Do?
Be aware: it is important to be an involved, informed and assertive parent.
When you learn that your infant is hard of hearing, you must immediately begin intervention. Do not wait 6 months or a year. Infants as young as one month can be fitted with hearing aids.
Babies who are aided before they are six months old demonstrate higher expressive and receptive speech skills and reading comprehension and are more likely to be mainstreamed in school than those who are not caught and treated until after the age of six months.
Choose an auditory-oral or auditory-verbal language option, so that your child may learn to listen and speak.
Be sure your child gets at least two hours of speech therapy a week.
Keep your baby in the least restrictive environment-a mainstream "Mommy and Me" class, a mainstream preschool, a mainstream kindergarten, etc. Keep checking on your baby's hearing and if you need help, contact an auditory-oral school or auditory-verbal service for an evaluation, to receive speech and language therapy or instructions on how to teach your baby.
How Is Newborn Hearing Screening Testing done?
Today many babies will have their hearing tested before they leave the hospital. The tests are simple and painless and take only a few minutes. Click here for more information about testing methods.
Cochlear Implants
The FDA approved the cochlear implant for children in 1995 and for 12-month-old babies in 2000. Please see our section on cochlear implants for more information on this procedure.
What Is Otitis Media?
Commonly called middle ear infection, otitis media is one of the most common medical problems of childhood and the chief cause of hearing loss in children. Fortunately, the hearing loss is neither severe, nor is it usually permanent; but such hearing loss may cause delays in development of the child's language and intellectual skills. Surgical treatment, when necessary, alleviates hearing loss and reduces both the number and the severity of recurrent ear infections. Otitis media may be acute (an episodic infection treated with antibiotics) or it can develop into a chronic type where fluid fills the middle ear and requires surgical therapy.
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