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Did You Know?
Facts about hearing loss
- Every year in Ontario, about 400 children are born with impaired hearing.
- Before Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) many children in Ontario with hearing impairment were not identified until the age of 3 years or more.
- When early identification and intervention occurs, hearing impaired children make dramatic progress, are more successful in school, and become more productive members of society. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) 1990.)
- A study of children born in Colorado hospitals that had Universal Newborn Hearing Screening programs showed that when they were identified with hearing loss in the first few months of life and had no other disabilities, children had an 80% probability of having language development within the normal range from birth through five years of age. (Yoshinaga-Itano, C., 2003)
- Research from the U.S. shows that by the time a child with hearing loss graduates from high school, more than $400,000 per child can be saved in special education costs if the child is identified early and given proper educational, medical, and audiological services. (White, K.R., & Maxon, A.B., 1995).
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