Why don’t all infants have a diagnostic test for hearing loss?
A diagnostic test takes a long time, it cannot be done before a baby goes home from the birth hospital, and it is expensive. A hearing screening test is quick, it can be done before a baby leaves the birth hospital, and it is relatively inexpensive. Screening tests are common in medicine. Checking your vision with an eye chart in the doctor’s office is a screening test. Just because you have trouble reading the eye chart does not necessarily mean that you need glasses. More testing is usually done by a special doctor – an eye doctor. In the same way, if a baby does not pass the hearing screening test, more testing is done by a specialist called an audiologist. If a baby does not pass the newborn hearing screening test, it is VERY important to make sure the baby gets a follow-up diagnostic test. To be SURE that the baby does not have a hearing loss For more information, please see http://www.babyhearing.org/HearingAmplification/ NewbornScreening/index.asp http://www.asha.org/public/hear
