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of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

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    Information for Providers | Contact & Additional Info | NBHS Home Page

    All babies should have their hearing screened

    Hearing screening is easy and is not painful; it is usually performed while a baby is sleeping. Screening should be performed 24-48 hours after birth. If your newborn is in the NICU, screening should be performed before the baby leaves the hospital once medically stable.

    Babies who don't pass their hearing screening should have a complete hearing test before 3 months of age.

    If your baby passes the newborn hearing screening, you do not need more testing at this time.

    If your baby referred (failed) a hearing screening, there may be several reasons:

    • Your baby has a hearing loss—either temporary or permanent.
    • Your baby was too active or did not sleep during the hearing screening.
    • The room was too noisy when your baby had his/her hearing screening to get good screening results.

    This means your baby needs to have a full diagnostic audiologic evaluation to determine if there is a hearing loss. A diagnostic audiologic evaluation, performed by a pediatric audiologist, should take place before 3 months of age so that your baby can get help learning speech and language during the first few months of life. You can find a pediatric audiologist near you through Early Hearing Detection and Intervention-Pediatric Audiology Links to Services (EHDI-PALS).

    Babies with a diagnosed hearing loss should begin intervention services before 6 months of age.

    With the help of your child's audiologist or doctor, you should enroll your child in Early Intervention to enhance their development.

    Families are also eligible to enroll in Family Connections for Language and Learning, an affiliate program of Parent to Parent of PA, which serves families of children who are deaf/hard of hearing. Referrals can be made by calling the program coordinator at 717-580-0839.