Infant Hearing Screenings – Better Hearing And Speech Month

Congressman James T. Walsh will join officials from the Gebbie Hearing Clinic and Crouse Hospital on Monday, May 20th to mark the month of May as Better Hearing and Speech Month. Walsh’s visit will begin with the viewing of an infant hearing screening and tour of the Baker Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (9th floor) at Crouse Hospital, 736 Irving Avenue, at 9:00 a.m. and conclude with a meeting with affected families at the Gebbie Clinic.

"One in every one-thousand infants born in the United States today has a severe or profound hearing problem," said Walsh. "Studies have proven that without proper screening before the age of three months and appropriate intervention, it can have a severe impact on the development of communication skills, academic achievement, and social functioning of the child."

Walsh, a founding member of the Congressional Hearing Health Caucus, was the author and primary sponsor of federal legislation creating the Newborn and Infant Screening and Intervention Program in 1999. The bill created a program through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to assist states in establishing programs to detect and diagnose hearing loss in every newborn child and to promote appropriate treatment and intervention for newborns with hearing loss.

Between 1989 and 1990 when Walsh began work in Congress to create the program, only three percent of all babies in the United States were being screened, and there were only three hospital-based screening programs in the entire country. Since the program’s inception, approximately sixty-six percent of all newborns are now being screened through programs in approximately 2,250 hospitals in 56 states and U.S. territories.

With the program’s creation, states who voluntarily implement statewide programs are eligible to tap into federal resources to support their operations. Through his seniority on the House Appropriations Committee, Walsh has successfully secured increased funding for the nationwide program during each year of its existence - $7 million in its first year, $15 million in FY 2001, and $17 million this current fiscal year.

It is well recognized that hearing is critical to speech and language development, communication, and learning. Children with listening difficulties due to hearing loss or auditory processing problems continue to be an underidentified and underserved population. The earlier hearing loss occurs in a child’s life, the more serious the effects on the child’s development. Similarly, the earlier the problem is identified and intervention begun, the less serious the ultimate impact.

"The most important thing is that parents have their children screened at an early age, the earlier the better," added Walsh. "Federal resources have allowed hospitals and clinics across the country to implement newborn and infant hearing screening, and I’m pleased that multiple options exist here for Central New York families. Crouse Hospital was one of the first in New York State to provide comprehensive infant hearing screening for all newborns."

Today, hospital screening programs exist in every local hospital with 400 or more annual births.

About The Author:

Nick Town is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.digital-hearing-aids-n-protection.com. Finding out more about hearing loss, so you can choose the digital hearing aids or therapy that is necessary.