For deaf babies, there will be poor or absent understanding of language as well as poor or absent expression of words. Sometimes parents use gestures along with their talking to baby and don't realize that their young children are following the visual cues - not the sound of the words. When parents suspect a hearing loss or speech and language delay, they are not always guided to the evaluations their children need. Sometimes well meaning but misinformed doctors and audiologists will suggest waiting for various things - like having perfectly clear ears, or not speaking clearly by age two or three before testing hearing. It is always better to take the next available appointment for an age appropriate hearing test.
Early diagnosis is an advantage.
Sometimes a hearing loss is suspected on testing, but later it turns out that hearing is normal. That can happen for several reasons, depending on the test. The reasons include central nervous system maturation in a young baby who failed an ABR, middle ear fluid resolving in a child on a soundfield audiogram. As disturbing as an abnormal hearing test can be to parents, it is important to see the results of any one hearing test as an indication for more careful examination and attention. Remember, these tests do not hurt, they are not like biopsies and spinal taps.