Code of Maryland Regulations › Title 10 - MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Part 3 › Subtitle 11 - MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH › Chapter 10.11.02 - Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program › Section 10.11.02.03 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 14, July 12, 2024
A. In this chapter,
				  the following terms have the meanings indicated
B. Terms Defined
(1) "Alternative birthing site" means any
				  site of birth other than a hospital
(2) "Appropriate services" mean any necessary
				  audiological, medical, developmental speech-language, psychosocial educational,
				  or intervention services required in the follow-up of newborns and infants who
				  have or at risk for developing a permanent hearing status that affects
				  speech-language skills.
(3) "At
				  risk for developing a permanent hearing status that affects speech-language
				  skills" means an infant identified as having any risk factor listed in
				  Regulation .04 of this chapter
(4)
				  "Audiological assessment" means testing to determine status of the auditory
				  mechanism.
(5) "Audiologist" means
				  an individual licensed to practice audiology by the Maryland Board of Examiners
				  for Audiologists, Hearing Aid Dispensers, and Speech-Language
				  Pathologists.
(6) "Birthing
				  hospital" means a medical facility licensed by the Department which provides
				  obstetrical services.
(7)
				  "Department" means the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
(8) "Department database" means the computer
				  data management system used to gather and maintain program data.
(9) "Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
				  Advisory Council (Advisory Council) " means the 12-member advisory council
				  appointed by the Secretary to provide advice and consultation to the Department
				  concerning the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program.
(10) "Early intervention system" means the
				  total effort in the State, for children from birth to 5 years of age, to meet
				  the needs of eligible children and the children's families, including the
				  efforts of the Maryland Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
				  Program.
(11) "Hearing screening"
				  means behavioral electrophysiological or other procedures used to identify
				  newborns and infants in need of diagnostic audiological assessment
(12) "Hearing status " means the state of an
				  individual's ability to perceive sound, based on audiological
				  assessment
(13) "Infant" means a
				  Maryland resident who is younger than 1 year old
(14) "Infant with a permanent change in
				  hearing status that affects speech-language skills " means an infant who has a
				  loss that is a dysfunction of the auditory system or any nontransient hearing
				  status of any type or degree which is sufficient to interfere with the
				  acquisition and development of speech-language skills with or without the use
				  of sound amplification.
(15) "Local
				  education agency" means a public board of education and public school system
				  legally constituted to administer and direct education and programs of
				  education in the public elementary or secondary schools, including early
				  childhood from birth through the end of high school or their equivalent, in
				  Baltimore City and the 23 counties in Maryland.
(16) "Local health department" means the
				  official public health agency of the local political subdivision affiliated
				  with the Department.
(17) "Maryland
				  Infants and Toddlers Program" means the program within the Maryland State
				  Department of Education's Division of Special Education/Early Intervention
				  Services that provides early intervention services for children under Part C of
				  the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
(18) "Newborn " means a child up to 29 days
				  old who is born in the State.
(19)
				  "Parent" means a biological or adoptive parent, a legal guardian, another
				  individual responsible for a child's welfare, or a person appointed as the
				  surrogate parent as defined in COMAR 13A.05.01.
(20) "Primary care provider" means a licensed
				  practitioner who is the primary coordinator of care for the individual, whose
				  responsibility it is to provide accessible, continuous, comprehensive, and
				  coordinated health care services.
(21) "Program" means the Early Hearing
				  Detection and Intervention Program established by the Secretary that provides
				  for the universal screening of newborns and early identification and follow-up
				  of newborns and infants who have, or are at risk for developing, a permanent
				  hearing status that affects speech-language skills.
(22) "Referral" means directing the newborn
				  or infant at risk for developing a permanent hearing status that affects
				  speech-language skills and the newborn or infant's parent or guardian to a
				  professional for diagnostic audiological assessment or other appropriate
				  services, or both.
(23) "Risk
				  factors" means indicators that are associated with permanent congenital
				  delayed-onset, or progression to a hearing status that affects speech-language
				  skills in childhood.
(24)
				  "Secretary" means the Secretary of Health and Mental Hygiene.
(25) "Telephone resource line" means
				  toll-free telephone access to the Program inside Maryland through live voice or
				  recorded message including coverage for individuals who have a permanent
				  hearing status that affects speech-language skills.
(26) "TTY" means a telecommunication device
				  for individuals with disabilities.