Newborn Program Screens for Hearing Loss
"No Child Left Behind" is a law that is meant to benefit all children, but for a child with a hearing loss, the first step toward academic success begins long before he or she enters preschool. Newborn hearing screening programs throughout the United States are identifying infants with hearing loss before they leave the hospital. Additional audiological testing should be completed soon after to confirm the degree and type of hearing loss. After early identification, the next critical step on the path to academic success is early intervention. This includes fitting deaf and hard-of-hearing children with appropriate hearing aids as soon as possible.
The Riverside County Office of Education offers ongoing audiological/hearing services at three locations: Riverside, Indio, and at the Rob Reiner Center in Perris. A grant from First 5 Riverside allows the three RCOE audiologists to provide loaner hearing aids to hearing-impaired children from birth to age five soon after their initial diagnosis. This allows the child to start hearing auditory information as early as possible - auditory information that in many cases provides the foundation for the development of speech and language. It is upon this foundation that reading, writing, and academic performance is built. Currently, children from Alvord, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Temecula, Hemet, Perris, Romoland, Banning, and Coachella Valley school districts are benefiting from the RCOE/First 5 Loaner Hearing Aid Bank.
Since early hearing aid amplification is only part of the early intervention formula, the Riverside County Office of Education also provides a family-centered educational program. The Early Start Infant Circle Program serves deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth to three years of age during home-based sessions as well as in small group class sessions.
Due to advancements in audiological technology, identification of hearing loss is now made at an earlier age, allowing for the use of hearing aid amplification earlier than ever before, even as young as three months of age. The RCOE/First 5 Loaner Hearing Aid Bank allows children the use of amplification while their family is obtaining personal hearing aids through private funds or third-party providers.