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ABSTRACT INFORMATION
Title: 'Advocating for Newborn Hearing Screenings' Track: 6 - Follow-up, Tracking and Data Management Keyword(s): Newborn hearing screening, loss to follow up, EDHI, Trainees Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to describe current issues that face newborn hearing screening programs Identify what preventions are taking place to minimize loss to follow up Propose what trainees can do to grow as advocates in NBHS programs. Abstract: Hearing loss (HL) has been identified as one of the most common birth defects, as many as three out of every 1000 babies are born with permanent HL. Currently, 92% of newborns are screened for HL by Newborn Hearing Screening (NBHS) programs shortly after birth. The most intensive period of speech, language, and neurological development is during the first three years of life. If HL remains unidentified during this period, it can result in difficulty developing language and reading skills. With appropriate early intervention, hearing impaired children demonstrate significantly better speech and reading comprehension than children identified after 6 months of age. According to EDHI, 45% of infants, who failed the NBHS, have been lost to follow up per year. NBHS programs have improved, but there are continued barriers linking families to follow up. The issues currently facing NBHS programs include a lack of funding and program tracking, loss to follow up, and the lack of screening children for delayed onset and acquired HL. Problems with unidentified HL consist of misdiagnosis, increased educational costs, economic disadvantages, under or unemployment and the neural, social, and behavioral development in children. Current efforts are underway to prevent loss to follow up including the development of a central registry for newborns that are at risk or have HL, the use of electronic birth certificates to record hearing screening results, examining the pediatrician’s role in the medical home with a hearing impaired, and the expansion of informational web based programs like EDHI-PALS. During the externship year pediatric trainees will not only learn their trade, but will grow as leaders that may someday establish NBHS programs. Therefore, we as trainees must be familiar with how NBHS operate, how to guide families to make good decisions, and how to coordinate care for children with HL. Presentation: This presentation has not yet been uploaded or the speaker has opted not to make the presentation available online. Handouts: Handout is not Available CART: CART Transcription is not Available
PRESENTER(S) / AUTHOR(S) INFORMATION
Chelsey DuFour - Primary Presenter,Author,POC Mailman Center for Child Development      Credentials: M.A.      Other Affiliations: Mailman Center for Child Development       I received my Bachelors degree in Communication Disorders from Bloomsburg University (2011) and Master's degree in audiology from the University of Pittsburgh (2014). I am currently working on my Au.D. at the University of Pittsburgh and am completing my externship at the Mailman Center for Child Development in Miami, Fl. I am interested in pediatric audiology, cochlear implants, newborn hearing screening programs, and advocacy for pediatric audiology.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exist. Nonfinancial - No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist. Shana Bauer Vaith - Co-Presenter,Author University of Miami Mailman Center for Child Development      Credentials: B.S., Au.D. Candidate      Other Affiliations: LEND Audiology Extern, University of Miami Mailman Center       Shana Bauer Vaith, B.S. is a fourth year Doctor of Audiology extern at the University of Miami Mailman Center. Areas of interest include pediatric audiology, cochlear implants, EHDI, and advocating for individuals with disabilites.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - No relevant financial relationship exist. Nonfinancial - No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist. Robert Fifer - Co-Presenter University of Miami      Credentials: Ph.D.       Robert C. Fifer, is the Director of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology at the Mailman Center for Child Development, University of Miami School of Medicine. He received his B.S. from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in Speech-Language Pathology with a minor in Deaf Education. His M.A. is from Central Michigan University in Audiology, and his Ph.D. is from Baylor College of Medicine in Audiology and Bioacoustics. Dr. Fifer’s clinical and research interests focus on the areas of auditory evoked potentials, central auditory processing, early detection of hearing loss in children, and auditory anatomy and physiology. He is a Past-President of the Florida Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists, a member of ASHA’s Health Care Economics Committee, and the ASHA representative to the American Medical Association’s Health Care Professions Advisory Committee for the Relative Value Utilization Committee in addition to being ASHA’s representative to the AMA’s Practice Expense Advisory Committee.       ASHA DISCLOSURE: Financial - Nonfinancial -