1) We will start first with degrees of hearing loss. According to AHSA (The American Speech-Language and Hearing Association all Audiologists and Speech Therapists must be certified by ASHA) a slight hearing loss is from 16dB - 25dB ASHA Loss Configuration . (Back before 2003 a hearing loss was only considered at 25dB or greater. Many kids were swept under the table. Many Audiologists that went to school before or around this time period still use the old school for amplification)
2) In 2003 The American Academy of Audiology published their new Pediatric Amplification Protocol, where they state “Special consideration should be given to the fitting of amplification on children with unilateral hearing loss, minimal or mild hearing loss, profound hearing loss, and auditory neuropathy.” (pg 3; Pediatric Amplification Protocol).
In 2003 they had determined that a 'minimal' (or not so minimal) hearing loss was a problem for children and they knew that amplification was necessary. However, since Alex was born and failed newborn screening prior to 2003, he was lost to the system. By 'lost' I mean he was born in 2001 before they started to follow infants who failed their screening. Alex was just making it in for a 2 year old hearing check up to enter Early Childhood Intervention, when this 'new' information was coming out. So when he registered a threshold of 25dB, it did not matter to the Audiologist; she did not know better for it was not advised at her time of schooling.
No comments:
Post a Comment