CHOICES for Parents sponsors Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Day

Early testing of deafness and hearing loss along with timely intervention is vital to infant development

CHICAGO, IL (April 25, 2006) – Several health care professions who specialize in hearing-related issues participated in a ceremony marking the second annual Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Day on April 11, 2006. The event was sponsored by CHOICES for Parents, a coalition of parents and professionals throughout Illinois that promotes the health and development of children with newly identified hearing loss by providing their parents with immediate access to support, information and resources to help families make the best decisions they can for their children.

Among the speakers was Daksha Patel, M.D., a pediatrician and neonatologist who also is a designated Illinois Chapter Champion of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Patel, affiliated with Children’s memorial Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital, praised the efforts being made in Illinois to diagnose and address hearing loss in infants. Patel credited the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Illinois Department of Public Health, among other organizations and individuals, for their roles in ensuring that newborns in Illinois are receiving the hearing-related testing they require.

Gail Tanner, based in Springfield and Connie Bazil, based in Peoria, both of the Newborn Screening Program, Illinois Department of Public Health, were recognized at the event for their outstanding performance in implementing the CHOICES program statewide. Tracy Meehan, a developmental therapist with Hearing and Vision Connections, Jacksonville, IL, was recognized for her efforts to provide follow-up/early-intervention services for children who have a hearing loss.

With ninety percent of deaf babies being born to hearing parents, the hearing loss can create communication barriers that may delay a child’s emotional, cognitive, and social development. Getting an early start helps to minimize this negative impact. A child’s most important learning takes place during the first years of life. A 3-year-old undiagnosed deaf child will only know about 25 words, compared to 700 words for a hearing child of the same age, according to an article published in The Hearing Journal in May 1998.

“When parents learn their child has a hearing loss, it often is a shock,” says Jill Sahakian, director, Chicago Hearing Society, a division of Anixter Center, one of the largest nonprofit organizations in Chicago that assists people with disabilities to live and work successfully in the community. “Ninety percent of deaf babies are born to hearing parents, so there usually is no family history of hearing loss.” Chicago Hearing Society is a founding member organization of CHOICES for Parents.

There has been an increased emphasis on hearing screening for infants in recent years, explains Karen Aguilar, coordinator, CHOICES for Parents. In 2002, the Illinois legislature mandated that all 135-plus birthing hospitals in the state must screen the hearing of newborns before babies go home from the hospital. Every day in America, according to the July 2003 edition of The Hearing Review, approximately one in 1,000 newborns — or 33 babies — is born profoundly deaf and another two or three of every 1,000 babies are born with a partial hearing loss, making hearing loss the number-one disability in America.

At the reception to mark Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Day, a representatives of the Office of Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing also were present.

To reach CHOICES for parents, contact (312)523-6400 or 866.733.8729; e-mail choicesforparents@yahoo.com.

 

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Photo courtesy of Bio-Logic Systems Corp

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The mission of the Lester and Rosalie Anixter Center is to assist people with disabilities to live and work successfully in the community. Anixter Center is a leading provider of high-quality vocational, residential and educational options, substance abuse prevention and treatment, and health care. More than 5,000 individuals a year are served through 70 programs at 35 locations throughout the Chicago area.

Note to reporters and editors: for more information about Anixter Center, please visit our media room at http://www.anixter.org/mediaroom/index.htm.