A five week old named Grace swaddled in her mother’s arms at a hospital in Redding had failed two hearing tests in her first two days of life, with a follow up exam a week later indicating trouble in one ear. Evaluating her hearing within the first three months of her life was essential. If follow up tests indicated a permanent problem, she would need to be fitted with a hearing aid to have the best chance of developing normal speech and other important skills later in life. Another problem was that Grace needed a pediatric audiologist to perform the necessary tests, but they lived in a more rural area where such specialists are hard to find. Read more to learn about how tele-intervention or video conferencing technology is helping pediatric audiologists reach more children in need of these important evaluations.
Lee, five weeks old, swaddled in a pink-stripped blanket, dozes in her
mother’s arms in a room at a hospital in Redding. The baby failed two
hearing tests in her first two days of life, and a follow-up exam a week
later suggested trouble in one ear.
Evaluating her hearing loss within the first three months of her life
was essential. If follow-up tests indicated a permanent problem, she’d
need to be fitted with a hearing aid to have the best chance of
developing unimpaired speech and other important skills later in life.
Source: The Bay Citizen (http://s.tt/18j58)