Early identification of hearing loss is the key to reducing the impact of hearing impairment on the development of speech and language. Advances in technology have recently made it feasible to screen all newborns.
In July of 1996 the Northern Illinois University Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic in joint effort with Kishwaukee Community Hospital expanded their newborn hearing screening program to screen all infants prior to discharge from the hospital. All newborns are screened using transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs). This test is simple, fast, and not at all uncomfortable for the baby. A small probe is placed in the ear canal and soft clicks are presented. If the baby's outer, middle, and inner ear are functioning as they should, suggesting normal hearing, a response generated by the baby's inner ear (the cochlea) is present in the ear canal; a tiny microphone located in the probe measures the emission and it is then analyzed. Should a hearing loss be identified, the NIU Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic provides hearing aid dispensing, aural habilitation, and speech and language therapy.
Graduate student clinicians are involved in all aspects of the program from learning to perform and interpret the screenings to the tracking of data and follow-up care.