Even though they had gathered a mountain of information, received
support from their pediatrician, approval from their insurance company,
and spoke to countless other parents – some of whom had chosen cochlear
implants for their children with hearing loss and others who had not –
they found the most resistance from their early intervention providers.
Not only were these professionals unsupportive, they provided grossly
inaccurate information about cochlear implants and listening and spoken
language outcomes. 

For parents of young children with hearing loss, research informs us
that approximately 95% of these parents are hearing themselves and have
little or no experience with deafness. So, what are parents to do and how should they determine what is best
for their infant or toddler who has been diagnosed with hearing loss? Read more in this article.

Link: http://blog.asha.org/2012/07/26/for-children-with-hearing-loss-parents-desired-outcomes-should-drive-early-intervention-use-of-hearing-technology/

A parent in Indianapolis recently posed the question, “If I’m a hearing
person, how do I even know what I don’t know about raising and educating
a child who is deaf (or hard of hearing)?” Hands & Voices attempted to shed some light through
a series called “Communication Considerations.” Communication
Considerations A to Z™ is a series from Hands & Voices that’s
designed to help families and the professionals working with them access
information and further resources to assist them in raising and
educating children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Follow the read more link to learn more about the series.

Link: http://www.handsandvoices.org/comcon/index.html

The National Annual EHDI Meeting will be held from April 14-16, 2013 in Glendale AZ. Anyone interested in presenting at the meeting is invited to submit their abstracts online via the EHDI Meeting website. The abstract submittal deadline is October 1, 2012. Contributors will be notified about whether the abstract has been approved on or about November 16, 2012. Please visit the presenter information page for more details and information regarding abstract requirements, tips, and to submit your abstracts.

Link: http://ehdimeeting.org/PresenterInfo.cfm?pg=info

A new gene therapy approach can reverse hearing loss caused by a genetic
defect in a mouse model of congenital deafness, according to a
preclinical study. The findings present a promising therapeutic avenue
for potentially treating individuals who are born deaf.

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120725132202.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily%2Fhealth_medicine%2Fhearing_loss+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Health+%26+Medicine+News+--+Hearing+Loss%29

Today, the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD)
joins many other disability organizations in celebrating the 22nd
anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and urges the
Senate to ratify the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The ADA signifies the adoption of a
public policy committed to the removal of a broad range of impediments
to the integration of people with disabilities into society. The ADA
Anniversary is a time when we can reflect positively on a law that has
made a great impact on the lives of people with disabilities and our
country over the past 22 years.

Link: http://www.aucd.org/template/news.cfm?news_id=8092&parent=16&parent_title=Home&url=%2Ftemplate%2Findex.cfm

Massachusetts news: Very small (estimated at less than 1/5th of 1%)
increase in health insurance premiums has potential to make a big
difference in early treatment of hearing loss for children in MA.

Link: http://blog.massmatch.org/report-shows-small-cost-impact-for-bill-extending-hearing-aid-benefits-to-children

The National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM) is pleased to offer the updated Interactive Newborn Hearing Screening Curriculum (NHSTC) as an online educational module. The goal of this comprehensive course is to standardize training for all screeners and stakeholders involved in newborn hearing screening and follow-up. It is web based, so screeners can learn at their own pace. In addition, there are many resources and tools embedded in the curriculum, including scripts for screeners to use when communicating results with families and links that will take them to their state EHDI profile.  Please share this information with the birthing hospitals and other newborn hearing screening and EHDI stakeholders in your state. In addition, those who register  and complete the course will receive a Certificate of Completion from NCHAM.  

Please register for the NHSTC course at the following URL:

http://www.infanthearing.org/survey/nhstc/

After registering you’ll receive an email with course enrollment and access instructions.  Please let us know if you have any questions or difficulties enrolling.

Link: http://www.infanthearing.org/moodle/

The CDC EHDI Program is pleased to announce that the 2010 national EHDI data is now available online at: www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hearingloss/ehdi-data.html. Here you will find detailed data from nearly every state and territory that shows several exciting trends, including a reduction in loss to follow-up (LFU) / loss to documentation (LTD) for infants needing a diagnosis (see below for highlights).

The information available online includes an overview of the 2010 data and separate summaries showing the screening, diagnostic, and intervention data reported by each state and territory. Comparisons between the 2010 and previous year’s data and a copy of the 2010 survey are also available.

 2010 Highlights

·         Screened for Hearing Loss: 97.9%

·         Diagnosed with Permanent Hearing Loss: 4,923

·         LFU / LTD for Diagnosis: 39.4%

·         Enrolled in Early Intervention: 67.7%

Link: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hearingloss/ehdi-data.html

There are currently about 40 million deaf, mute and deaf-mute people and
many of them use sign language to communicate, but there are very few
people who actually understand sign language. Using gloves fitted with
flex sensors, touch sensors, gyroscopes
and accelerometers (as well as some solar cells to increase battery
life) the EnableTalk team has built a system that can translate sign
language into text and then into spoken words using a text-to-speech
engine. The whole system then connects to a smartphone over Bluetooth.

Link: http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/09/enable-talk-imagine-cup/

Children with Waardenburg syndrome (WS) respond well to cochlear
implantation and achieve equally good speech and hearing outcomes as
nonsyndromic children undergoing the same procedure, report researchers.

WS, an inherited genetic disorder, is characterized by abnormal skin, hair, and iris pigmentation, as well as varying degrees of sensorineural hearing loss. Initial research suggests that children with this syndrome have good results after cochlear implantation for profound deafness.

Link: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120711/Cochlear-implants-work-well-for-Waardenburg-children.aspx