Newborn hearing testing in the UK means Lacey Bradley now sings and plays guitar in a music club. She first got hearing-aids at two weeks old, before her bilateral cochlear implants at age three and four, respectively.
Newborn Hearing Tests Give A Solid Start
Read: Lacey’s progress a sound reason for baby testing
Outcomes are why the US state of Massachusetts advises hearing tests for all newborns in the state. As this news report says, “You can’t learn to talk unless you hear well” – and the US state estimates a lifetime cost of up to $1 million for each deaf child, who does not receive early intervention.
Read: “You can’t learn to talk unless you hear well”
Hearing Technology Is Still Evolving
In Australia, researcher Professor McKay says
There is a very sensitive period very early on in a baby’s life where their brain is being tuned to learn [spoken] language. The earlier deaf children get a hearing aid or cochlear implant, the much better outcome they have in language development.
Read: Cochlear Programming To Give Children Best Start
Teen Benefits From Early Reading Tuition
Turner Hitt in the US, is another teen benefiting from early detection. He was reading by age 4, after his mother chose home-work with auditory-verbal therapy (AVT). Notably Turner, who has a newspaper column, says
I don’t think my plans [for after school] are any more special because I’m deaf.
Read: Teen who’s deaf excels in the world of sound
Ultimately, the message is (1) newborn tests are vital in early detection of hearing issues (2) early, consistent wearing of hearing-devices gives access to sound (3) parents and families are a child’s first language teachers and need to teach absolutely everything in the case of profound deafness.
More Reading
- Early Interaction With Babies For Communication
- Talk To Your Baby For A Solid Early-Learning Basis
- Parents’ Essential Role In Language Development
- Hearing-Aids + Learning = Education
- Teaching Deaf Children To Listen And Speak
- Hearing-Aids (And Parents) Boost Childrens’ Vocabulary
- Home-Work With Children Who Have Hearing Issues
- Talking With Teens Who Have Hearing Issues
