Why does a child require a neonatal hearing test?
Babies are known to learn and grasp from the time they are born and auditory perception, or hearing, plays in integral role in the process of learning.
Hearing loss in children often leads to social maladjustments, communication difficulties and long-lasting deficits in speech and language acquisition. Early diagnosis and necessary intervention within the initial months of a baby’s life often ameliorate these consequences to a certain degree.
Without proper neonatal hearing screening, it becomes difficult to detect any kind of hearing loss within the initial years of child’s life, since more than fifty percent of babies with any kind of hearing impairment have no risk factors attached to it.
A major misconception here is that many parents believe that they would be able to tell it on their own if their child suffers from any hearing impairment or not. This, however, is not the case. Babies lacking normal hearing would sometimes respond to noises, but this is not an assurance by any means, for they there’s a chance they do not possess hearing abilities enough to support and develop speaking abilities.
Such hearing tests provide the babies with better chances of developing language and speech skills along with an opportunity to make the most out of emotional and social interactions. Timing is of utmost importance.