Resources / Hearing
Newborn Hearing Screening
Your baby’s hearing screen.
The Infant Hearing Program provides hearing screening for newborns in hospital or community settings and includes both: 1) a newborn hearing screen; and 2) a blood spot screen by Newborn Screening Ontario (NSO). This routine blood spot sample is already collected by the Hospital or Midwife (heel prick test). It is checked for congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection and some genetic factors that identify a higher risk for permanent hearing loss.
What if my baby did not get a hearing screening at birth?
Newborn hearing screening works best within the first few weeks of life to maintain the greatest effectiveness and reliability of the screening equipment, procedures and protocols. Hearing screening is available to families until an infant is eight weeks of age. The NSO blood spot screen will continue to be completed and if there are concerns, you will be contacted by NSO directly.
A very mild hearing loss can be difficult to notice until possibly later in preschool. So, if you are at all concerned about your baby’s hearing, we urge you to contact an audiologist who is used to working with young children and book an assessment, if required. A list can be found on the College of Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists of Ontario’s website at http://publicregister.caslpo.com/.
This is especially important if your baby did not receive a newborn hearing screen. Information and links for various checklists that may help you to understand your child’s hearing and communication development are listed below.
How do I know if an audiologist has experience with young children?
There are certain ways audiologists test young children to gather accurate information in a child-friendly way. Some audiologists test all ages, but others may only see older children and adults. Here are some questions you may want to ask when choosing an audiologist:
- What age of children do you typically see?
- How many children under the age of three do you typically see in a month?
- Is there a fee for the hearing test? (Note: In some cases, there will be a fee).
Communication Checklists:
If you have questions or concerns about your child’s speech and language development, please contact the Preschool Speech and Language Program in your area:
- Durham Region Grandview Children’s Treatment Centre. Call 905-728-1673 or 1-800-304-6180
- Haliburton, Northumberland, Peterborough & Kawartha Lakes Five Counties Children’s Centre. Call 705-748-2337 or 1-888-779-9916 x100
- York Region Oak Valley Health. Call 1-888-703-5437
Hear On – YouTube Channel
The Hear On suite of learning videos was created for families of children identified with permanent hearing loss. They were each created with a clear parent need for information in mind. They are roughly ordered as we think parents may best make use of them. But of course each family has their own particular journey. The videos start with the first ABR appointment and move on from there. Watch them in order, or jump around as you like. Invite others important to your child’s care to come watch as well. Welcome. Please come back often to see if we have posted something new.
Each video was crafted and revised based on the input and feedback of established professionals in the field of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. We are also hoping to collect feedback from parents who can help us by pointing the way to new videos and how to revise our current videos to better meet their needs. Let us know what you think. Contact us through the link here.
Tri-Regional IHP Permanent Hearing Loss–Road Map
A general overview of what to expect from the Tri-Regional IHP Infant Hearing Program.
VIDEO: The Tri-Regional Infant Hearing Program Audiologist
Louise, Audiologist, explains the role of the Audiologist in the Tri-Regional Infant Hearing Program. As explained in this clip, teamwork is at the heart of the intervention pathway tailored for each individual family depending on their child’s needs, and usually begins with a newborn hearing screening.