Hearing Assessment in Infants, Children, and Adolescents: Recommendations Beyond Neonatal Screening.

Children who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) are at high risk for permanent deficits in language acquisition and downstream effects such as poor academic performance, personal-social maladjustments, and emotional difficulties. Identification of children born D/HH through newborn hearing screening and subsequent timely early intervention can prevent or reduce many of these adverse consequences. Ongoing surveillance for changes in hearing thresholds after infancy is also important and should be accomplished by subjective assessment for signs of atypical hearing and with objective screening tests. Scheduled hearing screening may take place in the primary care setting, or via referral to an audiologist according to the Bright Futures/American Academy of Pediatrics "Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care" (also known as the periodicity schedule). This report covers hearing assessment beyond the newborn period, reviews risk factors for hearing level change, and provides guidance for providers of pediatric primary care on the assessment and care of children who are D/HH.

Responsibility in the Current Epidemic of Language Deprivation (1990-Present).

Language deprivation syndrome (LDS) is a permanent and preventable disability affecting language, cognition, and behavior that is epidemic in the deaf population. Since 1990, systemic and technological changes in the health care of deaf children have created a new paradigm that perpetuates this crisis. Physicians and other professionals have been largely unaware of their roles in this recent epidemic. An evidenced based system of care that addresses the causes and potential solutions can reverse this trend and prevent early language deprivation in deaf children.