Check Your Infant's Hearing

If your eyes are the windows to your soul, what are your ears? They are precious all the same. Deafness is the most common disability that goes undetected at birth. It is reported that over 12,000 American babies are born with moderate to severe hearing impairment. Yet another 12,000 are born with lesser degrees of hearing loss.

What can be the reason for parents being unaware of their childs hearing loss? The cost of a hearing test is about $30, much lower then other diseases which are also discovered during infancy. Even though in 32 states hospitals order screening tests of newborns in this country, fewer then half the newborns in this country have their hearing tested before they leave the hospital.

Parents need to pay attention to how their infant responds to sounds. The first five years of your child's life affects educational patterns for the rest of his or her life. Parents should be aware of their child's reactions to loud noises. Pay special attention to how your child responds to your voice when you speak.

With all the advances in the medical world today, it seems almost beyond comprehension how far behind we are in the detection of hearing loss for newborn children. If the hearing loss goes by without being noticed, or detected, the development of the child's auditory system is at risk. There are serious repercussions for the development of your child.

We can change the outcome of our infants' future when we face the possibilities of a hearing loss in our newborn children, and do what's needed to detect the loss early on. At the time I was growning up, in the early 50's, the devices weren't available for the proper care of hearing loss in children. My loss was due to the constant ear infections I suffered as an infant. I hope if you suspect a problem with your child's hearing, you will have his or her ears tested.

Although there are many things regarding a newborn baby's health which are important, the experts find the cost of a screening, (once the equipment is available) is really quite inexpensive in comparision to the lack of having the test performed. Isn't your child's hearing worth the time and effort it takes to perform a little preventive medicine?

I speak from my own personal experience. I believe it's a very important issue and we need to check the numbers before us. I say 12,000 is to high a number to simply ignore, and hope it will be someone else's child and not our own. We need to care for our children and give each of them the care they deserve, whether they're our children, or someone else's. Not every parent can afford even $30, but every child should be allowed to be tested at birth, to save them from being completely deaf.

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