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Michiganders alerted of resources during Better Hearing and Speech Month
May 08, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 8, 2019
CONTACT: Lynn Sutfin, 517-241-2112
LANSING, Mich. – As part of May is Better Hearing and Speech Awareness Month, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is promoting resources available through its Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program (EHDI).
All of Michigan’s 80 birthing hospitals perform newborn hearing screens, and annually about 175 babies are identified as deaf or hard of hearing. The EHDI program assists hospitals, clinics, midwives and parents in identifying infants with hearing loss and enrollment in appropriate audiological services.
“Early language and speech development in infants and children is critical to literacy success and long term educational attainment,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, MDHHS chief medical executive and chief deputy director for health. “Research has shown early identification of hearing loss and enrollment in intervention services can lead to significant benefits in childhood development.”
The EHDI program strives to achieve goals set by national and federal partners to improve screening, hearing loss detection and early enrollment in intervention services. The National EHDI 1-3-6 goals include:
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1 - All infants are screened for hearing no later than 1 month of age, preferably before hospital discharge.
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3 - All infants who do not pass the screening will have a diagnostic hearing evaluation no later than 3 months of age.
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6 - All infants identified as deaf or hard of hearing are enrolled in early intervention services no later than 6 months of age.
The EHDI program provides information about infant hearing screening and family support resources on its website Michigan.gov/ehdi. Two of those resources are Early On ® and Michigan Hands and Voices - Guide By Your Side™.
Early On offers early intervention services for children from birth to 3 years of age, who have developmental delays and/or disabilities, including hearing loss. The program is a collaborative of MDHHS and the Michigan Department of Education.
Guide by Your Side is a non-profit whose membership includes teachers, audiologists, interpreters and parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The free program provides support and information, as well as the chance for parents just learning of their child's hearing loss an opportunity to connect with other parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing to help guide them.
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