きこえと言葉の獲得 : 難聴の早期診断と早期療育の必要性

Good hearing is essential for speech and language development. Because of critical period of language acquisition after birth, the delayed identification of hearing loss in children leads to their irreversible and permanent impairments in speech, language, and cognitive abilities. Therefore, the early diagnosis of hearing loss and early speech and language interventions are indispensable in children with hearing loss.
All newborn infants receive newborn hearing screening in the United States, but not in Japan. In Tokushima, only a half of newborn infants were screened several years ago. But, nowadays the screening rate is increasing, because about of 80％ of hospitals and birthing clinics have implemented the screening protocols.
We created a manual of newborn hearing screening to recommend to mothers that the infants who do not pass the screening should be referred to a pediatric otolaryngologist for further auditory tests and that the infants who are given a diagnosis of hearing loss require immediate speech and language intervention.