Why are all babies screened for hearing loss?
In a word—communication! Babies learn speech and language by listening to the sounds of speech from the moment they are born. Hearing during the first months of life prepares the baby to begin babbling and eventually speaking his first words. If a child is not found to have a hearing loss until two or three years of age, valuable time has been lost and significant developmental delays result. Finally, by screening all babies rather than those appearing to be at risk for hearing loss, twice as many hearing-impaired infants are identified.
