When is a hearing screening necessary?

The ears play a very important role in our daily lives and work. Hearing loss can cause a lot of troubles, such as poor communication, inconvenience in travel, and even safety hazards and mental illness. (Safety hazards: The ears have the function of hearing and fixing the source of the sound. There is a risk of not being able to hear clearly on the road when going out, which is prone to traffic accidents; Mental illness: Poor communication can easily induce feelings such as loneliness, anxiety, and low self-esteem. In severe cases, it can also cause Alzheimer's disease. .)

When is hearing screening required?

National regulations - emphasizing the necessity and importance of new screening.

The "Measures for the Management of Newborn Disease Screening" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures") have been implemented since June 1, 2009, stipulating that the categories of newborn disease screening nationwide include congenital diseases. Hypothyroidism, phenylketonuria and other neonatal genetic metabolic diseases and hearing impairment. These diseases are difficult to detect in the early stages and can lead to long-term, serious, and multi-faceted consequences.

"Critical period" - "After this village, there will be no such store."

The "critical period" theory believes that there is a critical period for the development of hearing, language and other abilities during the early development of hearing-impaired children. If the critical period is missed, no matter how much stimulation is given, it will be difficult to achieve the ideal recovery effect [1]. The incidence of permanent hearing loss among newborns is about 1 to 3‰. There are at least 20,000 new newborns with hearing loss in my country every year, and new screening is a key method for early detection of hearing problems.

Deafness in infants and young children before the age of 3, even mild hearing loss, can lead to language disorders in children, because this is the critical period for language learning. Speech development period, and in severe cases, even intellectual development is retarded, causing defects in psychological and behavioral communication. For infants and young children with hearing loss, intervention within 6 months of birth can achieve ideal therapeutic effects. Therefore, the sooner a child is diagnosed with hearing loss and given early treatment, the greater the chance of minimizing adverse consequences such as speech impairment caused by hearing loss, thus changing the life of a deaf child.

Research shows thatRegardless of the degree of hearing impairment, as long as it is discovered and effectively intervened within 6 months, the child's language development ability is basically not affected, and even if he is deaf, he will not be mute. With early diagnosis and early treatment, combined with hearing aids, cochlear implants, and scientific and effective rehabilitation training, the vast majority of deaf children can return to the world of hearing.