Don’t Wait – Have Your Baby’s Hearing Tested Now
Sound asleep and unaware of his surroundings, 36 hour old Sean, a hefty 8 pound 6 ounce newborn, was having his hearing tested. The woman audiologist, took Sean in his cradle, over to a computer, which looked just like my desktop at home, except there were a series of wires attached to this one.
The Brand Levitra audiologist then hit a few buttons on the keypad and gently inserted a tiny probe into the baby’s ear, which led to the computer by one of these wires. The computer monitor revealed a complex display of multi-colored graphics.
I was visiting an institute which specialized in auditory studies in order to witness an operation which has helped many children with compromised hearing face their lives with greater ease. In the US, there are 4000 children born deaf annually, and another 24,000 infants born with some type of hearing impairment.
By taking advantage of this procedure known as the otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test, pediatricians and families can find out within hours of birth if an infant has any type of hearing issue, which allows for a better chance of finding a way to deal with the issue and possibly correct it.
Without a hearing test, a child may be two or three years old before a hearing problem is discovered. The consequences of not knowing that the child is suffering from hearing loss can be very drastic.
Speech and language development is grossly delayed. Children suffering from hearing loss often start speaking long after their peers, and they often seem separate from their environment in a way that kids with normal hearing are not.
The first two years are critical in the development of intelligence and emotions. Unfortunately, some children who suffer from hearing loss are accidentally diagnosed as having a mental deficiency.
Conducting hearing testing on every infant born was a complicated process prior to the development of OAE in 1990, and it was also very expensive. Audiologists now can use a an auditory brain stem response test, which is extremely accurate.
The test actually measures the activity of the auditory nerve itself as it sends messages to the brain and is done by attaching electrodes to the baby.
The viagra super force complicated ABR test is very accurate but it takes a half hour, costs ninety dollars or more, and a physician or audiologist must administer the test. There aren’t enough audiologists or physicians in the country to conduct this test on every newborn.
The great news is that the OAE testing procedure does not have to be performed by a hearing specialist and is very inexpensive to run.
The test takes only 5 minutes to complete and works by evaluating and measuring the vibration of the extremely small hair cells that are located within the cochlea as they react to sound.
There are two parts to the wand placed in the ear – a transmitter that produces the sound and a microphone that measures the vibrations of the hair cells.
The test was then repeated on the other ear. The test showed that Sean’s hearing was close to perfect Cialis at birth.
Should this test reveal negative results during the first attempt, a second test is administered in about a week. The reason is that newborns often have fluid in the ear canal that can lead to poor test results.
If the second test has an unfavorable result, there will be an auditory brain stem response test done on the infant to locate the source of the difficulty. Then a corrective plan of action can be determined.
Those who suffer from mild cases of compromised hearing can benefit from the use of a hearing age as early as three months into their life. A hearing aid is all it takes sometimes to give a child regular hearing capabilities.
A cochlear implant is a procedure that can provide a permanent solution to a child’s hearing issue, this may be done by a surgeon when a child is 18 months old.
When a child is found to be deaf, there will be guidance for the parents, so that they are able to learn to use visual examples and cues while spending extended time with their baby, so that their infant can learn about the world.
If such an infant receives this intensive focus from the parents, he will be more likely to develop intellectual and emotional skills at the normal rate.
American sign language, lip-reading, hearing aids and cued speech are all good ways to help with children who are faced with hearing problems.
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Category: Health
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