Moving Beyond Neonatal Hearing Screenings
Policy Recommendations and Ways to Reduce the Risk of Language Deprivation in Children
When left undetected, hearing loss can have permanent negative effects on children’s speech and language acquisition, academic performance, health outcomes, and interpersonal relationships. Despite the well documented relation between hearing ability and successfully navigating a predominantly “hearing world”, thousands of children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing still go undetected, and in many cases must endure the permanent negative sequelae that accompany language deprivation. Hearing screenings during childhood are essential for the early identification and management of hearing loss.
Brief Authors: Dr. Giovanna Morini, Emily S. Frazer-Abel, Dr. Michael Teixido, and Dr. Roberta Michnick Golinkoff.
