Ohio law requires that all hospitals and birthing centers test a newborn baby’s hearing before they’re discharged. The hearing screening determines whether a diagnostic evaluation of your baby's hearing is needed, and the reports must be sent to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH).
If your baby doesn’t pass their newborn hearing screening, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your baby is deaf or hard of hearing. It just means that additional testing by a licensed pediatric audiologist is needed.
Research says that 1 in 500 babies in the United States is born deaf or hard of hearing. Around 90% of those babies are born to hearing parents who may not suspect their baby has hearing loss.
Since babies typically don’t talk or interact much in their first few months of life, hearing parents may not recognize the signs that their child is struggling with hearing loss. Before hospitals were required to perform hearing screenings, children struggling with hearing loss often didn’t get diagnosed until they were toddler-aged or even starting kindergarten. This meant they missed out on essential communication and social development.
Diagnostic hearing testing is important because the earlier you identify a hearing loss in a baby, the better it is for the baby.
If your baby does not pass their newborn hearing screening at the hospital, you should have received instructions to follow up with a licensed pediatric audiologist. Ideally, you will follow up before your child is three months, but if not, then as soon as possible (even if your baby is older than three months. The audiologist will perform a comprehensive hearing evaluation to determine if hearing loss is present.
If your baby is found to have hearing loss you should work closely with the audiologist to ensure your child receives the medical care needed to treat their hearing loss, including being fit with any technology that will help them succeed such as hearing aids or, if appropriate, cochlear implants. In addition, they should be enrolled in early intervention services by six months of age.
If your child has permanent hearing loss, your family is eligible for specialized early intervention services provided by the Infant Hearing Program, in conjunction with Help Me Grow.
The Infant Hearing Program, partially funded by the Ohio Department of Health, is a family-focused outreach service for infants and toddlers (between the ages of birth and 3) who are deaf or hard of hearing. All intervention services are provided at no cost to families. The goal is to ensure that families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing receive complete information and the help they need to understand their child's hearing loss.
Each family is assigned a Hearing Services Provider who comes to see you and your child and can provide:
If you’re concerned about your child’s hearing or want additional information regarding the Infant Hearing Program, please reach out to Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center at 216-231-8787.
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