How common is infant hearing loss?
Hearing loss is one of the most common birth defects. Each year, three out of 1,000 babies are born in the United States with a hearing loss. Yet, about half are not identified until the age of 2, according to the Marion Downs National Center for Infant Hearing in Colorado. Many states require newborns to be tested for hearing before going home from the hospital. Catching hearing impairment in the first three months of an infant’s life is critical, because it is between birth and 36 months that a newborn’s capacity for communication develops at an explosive rate. Babies typically start talking between 18 and 24 months — some earlier, some later. Without immediate intervention, many children never make it beyond the fourth-grade reading level and have significant other delays in speech, social, cognitive and emotional development. Newer screening technology Newer technology is also making screening of newborns’ hearing easier and less expensive than it once was. As a result, more and m
