Can Your Baby Hear You? Don't Take It For Granted

    PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y., Nov. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Your newborn infant may seem
 just fine, happily cooing and gurgling away.  But as each day passes, one of
 America's most common birth defects may silently imperil his chance for a full
 and healthy future.
     Approximately three of every 1,000 American babies are born deaf or
 hearing impaired, often going months or even years before their problem is
 discovered.  And as Reader's Digest magazine warns parents in its December
 2000 issue, this delay can seriously threaten a child's long-term success in
 school and in life.
     Many hospitals still fail to screen newborns for hearing impairment, the
 magazine reports, and some common hearing tests are simply not reliable.  As
 undiagnosed children reach their school years, they are often unfairly labeled
 as "slow" or "behavior problems."
     But there are simple steps you can take to detect infant hearing
 disorders, before they lead to lasting developmental damage.  Reader's Digest
 offers expert tips, provides a time-line to check your child's progress (when
 she should respond to her own name, for example), and tells which tests you
 should request if you suspect something is wrong.
 
     Invisible Threat
     Even the most careful parent can fail to spot the early warning signs,
 Reader's Digest contributing editor Anita Bartholomew explains in "Baby, Can
 You Hear Me?"
     "From birth until about six months, all babies coo, gurgle and make
 vocalization sounds," says Robert Fifer, a University of Miami School of
 Medicine audiologist.  That's why he calls infant hearing loss an invisible
 problem: "You can't tell the difference between a three-month-old hearing baby
 and a three-month-old deaf baby."
     And as parent Heather Young learned the hard way, medical professionals
 themselves often misread the evidence.
     Three different doctors found nothing wrong with her daughter Jennifer's
 hearing, even when the girl still was not talking at age 18 months.  The
 result: Jennifer was 3 before she finally was fitted with hearing aids -- and
 now, at age 12, still lags far behind hearing children her age.  She has
 difficulty keeping up with conversation, and often feels she just doesn't fit
 in.
     Mounting evidence shows that the longer children like Jennifer go
 untreated, the greater the odds against them.  One 1998 study suggests that
 detection by age six months is key -- before delays in language development
 impair learning and social skills for years to come, according to study leader
 Christine Yoshinaga-Itano from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
 
     Quick Action is Crucial
     But misdiagnosis of such children is disturbingly common, Reader's Digest
 warns.  Even infants with severe hearing loss may appear to react normally to
 one common test, in which a bell is rung near the ear.
     For a far more reliable diagnosis, the magazine urges parents to ask
 instead for an auditory brain-stem response test (ABR), in which clicking
 sounds sent through earphones are measured in the child's brain.  Otoacoustic
 emissions testing (OAE) is another effective alternative that some medical
 facilities use instead.
     Early detection is crucial -- just ask the Youngs.  Jennifer's little
 brother, Ty, also was born with a hearing deficit, but was tested immediately
 and was already wearing hearing aids at eight weeks.  While Jennifer's
 comprehension skills remain sadly limited, Ty, now seven, has abilities that
 match those of other children his age.
     So, if you are an expectant parent, ask if your hospital offers newborn
 screening (many still don't, even where required by state law).  If not, find
 out who does.  And if a child of any age appears to be having language or
 learning difficulties, a hearing test might help get to the root of the
 problem.
     The ABR and OAE tests are both non-invasive and relatively
 inexpensive -- and considering the financial and emotional cost of long-term
 developmental damage, the December 2000 issue of Reader's Digest tells why
 they are a sound investment for any family in doubt.
 
 

SOURCE  Reader's Digest