Children with hearing loss often suffer from poor social and educational outcomes. That’s because achieving maximum potential in life is strongly linked to early acquisition of language—signed or spoken.
Early detection of hearing problems can help minimise delays in a child’s ability to learn language. That’s as long as detection is followed by correct diagnosis and the right sort of help.
In May 2006, the government announced that it would fund a newborn hearing screening and early intervention programme for all New Zealand children. Visit the newborn screening website for more information.
The roll-out began on 1 July 2007, in three district health boards with existing programmes: Waikato, Tairawhiti and Hawkes Bay.
The NFD and Project HIEDI have been advocating for such a programme since 2002. We’re still involved as the programme moves into the implementation phase.
New Zealand has had a very poor record of identifying and acting on hearing loss in children.
In 2004, the average age of detecting hearing loss was nearly 4 years. That was for babies with moderate or greater hearing loss at birth.
The internationally recommended age for identifying hearing loss is three months, with intervention starting before the child is six months. These timeframes result in the best possible outcome for the child.
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