Research notes that children identified with hearing loss at birth are, by the time they enter school, one to two years developmentally ahead of their hearing impaired peers who where not diagnosed until after they were six months old. The average age at which children are diagnosed with hearing loss is 2.5 years. Yet very important speech and language development occurs significantly earlier. The early identification and addressing hearing loss early, language, cognitive and social development is very likely to develop on par with unimpaired peers. So compelling is the evidence for the benefits, practicability, and cost-efficiency of universal newborn hearing screening that 22 states have passed legislative mandates requiring hospitals to screen all newborns for hearing loss.
Similar legislation is pending in other states.
These savings in special education costs will pay for universal hearing screening many times over. Information courtesy of the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management, Utah State University.