ASHA Announces New Early Intervention Campaign
Editor: We've reported that most states are doing a great job of
screening newborns for hearing loss, but some aren't doing such a great job
of treating those who have hearing loss. The folks at ASHA are concerned
about this, and have started a campaign to do something about it. Here's the
news release.
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Goal Is To Treat Infants With Hearing Loss By The Time They Are Six
Months Old
(Rockville, MD-May 5, 2006) The American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association (ASHA) has announced a new five-year national effort to diagnose
and provide early intervention services for 90% of children with hearing
loss by the time they are six months old.
Hearing loss continues to be the most common birth defect in America.
Nearly a decade ago, slightly more than 20% of U.S. hospitals screened
newborns for the condition. In 2000, ASHA set a five-year goal to provide
hearing loss screenings for at least 90% of newborns by the time they were
one month old. That goal was achieved in 2005.
"The impact of delayed detection of hearing loss in newborns and
intervention can last a lifetime," ASHA President Alex Johnson, PhD, says.
"When hearing loss is found early, intervention and treatment can produce
dramatic improvements in a child's speech and language development, and
emerging literacy skills."
Some objectives of the five-year initiative include promoting:
* model eligibility criteria for the IDEA Part C program
* expanded access to pediatric assistive technology
* model coverage criteria for both public and private insurers.
The announcement of ASHA's new campaign follows and complements the
recent introduction of the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI)
Act of 2006 (HR 5250) by Representative James Walsh (R-NY) and 28
co-sponsors that would help further develop and promote early intervention
services for children with hearing loss.
HR 5250 calls for:
* improved follow-up for newborns who fail the hearing screening
* access to appropriate and timely diagnosis and early interventions
services
* family support programs for children newly identified with hearing loss
* a postdoctoral EHDI fellowship program at the National Institutes of
Health.
Formerly, Rep. Walsh introduced the Newborn Infant Hearing Screening and
Intervention Act which was incorporated into Title VI of the Labor, HHS and
Education Appropriations Act of 1999 and signed into law. The legislation
was also part of the Children's Health Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-310).
ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing
association for more than 123,000 audiologists, speech-language
pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Audiologists
specialize in preventing and assessing hearing disorders as well as
providing audiologic treatment including hearing aids. Speech-language
pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems
including swallowing disorders. For more information, go to www.asha.org or
call 1-800-638-TALK.
