Get Your Baby's Hearing Checked
Children with hearing problems may need to learn speech and language differently, so it's important to detect deafness or hearing loss as early as possible. In fact, about 2 or 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born deaf or hard-of-hearing, and more lose their hearing later during childhood. Your baby should have a hearing screening within the first month of life. If hearing loss is suspected, an audiologist should test your baby's hearing by 3 months of age. If hearing loss is confirmed, hearing devices and other communication options should be considered by 6 months of age. Many hospitals screen all newborns for hearing loss, but some screen only those at high risk - so find out what your hospital does. If you and your baby are already home and you don't know if your baby's hearing was tested, ask the doctor or the clinic where your baby's records are. The most important time for a child to be exposed to and learn language is in the first 3 years of life. In fact, children begin learning speech and language in the first 6 months of life. Research suggests that those who have hearing impairment and get intervention have better language skills than those who don't. The earlier you know about deafness or hearing loss, the sooner you can make sure your child benefits from strategies that will help him or her learn to communicate. For additional resources on this important topic, see www.nidcd.nih.gov/directory.