BABIES TESTED FOR DEAFNESS NEWBORNS CAN BE TREATED.Byline: Daily News LANCASTER - Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Hospital personnel are making an effort to detect hearing loss in newborn babies, so measures can be taken before the child's development and learning is affected. As a California Children's Services-approved hospital, AVH AVH Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy AVH Association Valentin Haüy pour le bien des aveugles AVH Acute Viral Hepatitis AVH Alex Van Halen AVH Antelope Valley Hospital (Lancaster, California) AVH Auditory Verbal Hallucination has been approved and certified to participate in the California Newborn Hearing Screening program. ``The Newborn Hearing Screening Program assures that every infant is screened and immediately gets the help he or she needs if a hearing loss is identified,'' said AVH Chief Executive Officer Les Wong. ``With an average of 13 babies born every day at our hospital, we feel that the program is making a real difference here in the Antelope Valley.'' Each of the more than 5,000 babies born at the hospital each year are checked for hearing loss before they are discharged from the hospital, and those who are identified are referred to sources that can provide appropriate intervention and treatment, officials said. ``If an infant is identified in the screening, he will be referred to an AVH audiologist Audiologist A person with a degree and/or certification in the areas of identification and measurement of hearing impairments and rehabilitation of those with hearing problems. , who will perform a full hearing test and further evaluate the situation. Those with a confirmed diagnosis of hearing loss are referred to a regional hearing coordination center, where they receive follow-up attention and treatment,'' said Debbie Allen, director of the neonatal intensive care unit Noun 1. neonatal intensive care unit - an intensive care unit designed with special equipment to care for premature or seriously ill newborn NICU ICU, intensive care unit - a hospital unit staffed and equipped to provide intensive care and newborn nursery. She further noted that even the smallest infants can be treated for hearing loss. Hearing aids Hearing Aids Definition A hearing aid is a device that can amplify sound waves in order to help a deaf or hard-of-hearing person hear sounds more clearly. have been fitted on babies as young as 3 months old. Up to four out of every 1,000 babies will have a significant hearing deficit, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. information from the California Department of Health Services Department of Health Services may refer to:
Checking newborns is essential because the ``window of opportunity,'' or the period of time in which effective early intervention ear·ly intervention n. Abbr. EI A process of assessment and therapy provided to children, especially those younger than age 6, to facilitate normal cognitive and emotional development and to prevent developmental disability or delay. can take place, is short, said Leonard Machado, administrator of Infant Hearing Screening Specialists, the largest infant screening contractor in California. ``The latest research has shown that once infants reach 6 months old, cognitive development happens rapidly and normal hearing is critical,'' he explained. ``But if we can intervene and provide treatment to a hearing-impaired baby while the window of opportunity still exists, we can prevent many developmental and learning problems before they start.'' Since the program is required by state law, there is no charge to parents. |
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