Copyright 2000 The Chronicle Publishing Co.
The San
Francisco Chronicle
JULY 25, 2000, TUESDAY, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A17; BAY AREA FOCUS
LENGTH: 890 words
HEADLINE:
The Sounds of Success;
California debuts program to catch hearing
problems in newborns
BYLINE: Kelly St. John, Chronicle
Staff Writer
DATELINE: STATE
BODY:
The Manalang family knows firsthand the value
of catching a child's hearing loss early.
At 17 months, Jonathan could
not speak. So his mother, Shari Manalang, pressed her pediatrician to give
Jonathan a hearing test. Doctors found a hearing impediment.
By the time
the Manalangs' second son, D.J., was born, doctors, mindful that a potential for
hearing loss existed, found it the week he was born. Now 18 months old and
fitted with a hearing aid, D.J. speaks and interacts just like other toddlers
his age.
"The earlier you know, the better," said Shari Manalang. "As
parents, you can deal with your feelings and just learn how to communicate with
your child."
As many as 4 of every 1,000 infants have some form of
permanent hearing loss. One in 1,000 babies is profoundly deaf.
Research
shows that hearing-impaired babies who receive intervention by 6 months of age
are more likely to develop normal language and communication skills.
Yet, in many maternity wards, the only infants tested for hearing loss
are those considered "high risk." Some, like D.J., are tested because they have
relatives with hearing impediments. Others are born premature.
But half
of hearing-impaired children were not born into any high-risk category, and
parents often do not discover the hearing impediments until years later. Studies
show that children who do not receive early intervention are much more likely to
suffer speech and language delays, poor performance in school, behavior problems
and poor social development.
Yesterday, California debuted a statewide
early detection program to screen newborns for hearing loss. By 2002, more than
200 hospitals in the state will be screening all infants.
Screening
tests are simple and can be performed on babies while they sleep. A nurse
attach-
es electrodes to an infant's head, and then places foam rubber
earphones over the baby's ears. Much like an EKG works for the heart, the
machine picks up activity in the brain's hearing centers. By looking at a
computer, a nurse has an idea if a problem might exist.
Infants with
questionable hearing screens are referred for further testing, said Dr. Carol
Miller, a pediatrician at the University of California at San Francisco. The
tests cost about $50 to $60, Miller said.
By 2002, state-certified hospitals will screen 400,000 newborns each
year, more than 70 percent of the babies born in California. About 25,000
infants are expected to need follow-up screenings.
Ultimately, the
screening program is expected to identify 1,200 California babies who need
hearing intervention each year.
The news is not always welcome.
The Manalangs were terrified when they learned about Jonathan's hearing
loss, said Danny Manalang. "It was quite devastating. All our hopes and all our
dreams for him flashed before our eyes."
But soon the couple came to
accept the situation, Manalang said, and found ways to help Jonathan adapt to
his condition and excel alongside his peers.
Parents can learn to
communicate effectively with their hearing-impaired children. That means getting
close to a baby's ear when talking and making eye contact.
Jonathan's
parents initially taught him some sign language and he wore a hearing aid until
he was 2 1/2. Then he received a cochlear implant, a surgically implanted device
that translates sounds into signals transmitted to hearing centers in the brain.
Since then, "he's actually putting words together," Shari Manalang said.
D.J. Manalang's hearing loss is less severe, so he wears hearing aids.
But the early discovery of D.J.'s hearing impairment gave him a big
advantage in communication and keeping up with his peers. Program organizers
would like D.J.'s experience to be the norm.
The program was created by
legislation passed in 1998. It requires all hospitals approved by the California
Children's Services health program to offer hearing screenings to all newborns
in their care. The state will reimburse hospitals for uninsured and Medi-Cal
eligible children.
The Children's Medical Center at UCSF -- which has
tested all of its newborns since 1998 -- will serve as a coordination center for
the Bay Area and North Coast. UCSF will track infants with possible hearing loss
and ensure that they receive follow-up within six months.
"We're making
sure that these babies aren't lost," said Toni Iten Will, UCSF's coordination
center director. In states without tracking systems, up to half of the infants
who fail the screening do not receive follow-up tests to determine whether
children have significant hearing loss, Will said.
The program is a good
start, but California should still pursue a goal of testing all newborns in the
state, said Elizabeth Foster, director of the National Campaign for Hearing
Health in Washington, D.C.
Thirty-one states have passed laws requiring
all newborns to be screened for hearing loss, while California's program will
not reach 30 percent of California's children even when fully implemented.
"I agree that you need to have good follow-up," Foster said. "But it's
better for parents to know. I would rather have a child tested and no follow-up,
than no testing at all."
The toll-free number for the California
Newborn Hearing Screening program is (877) 388-5301.
E-mail Kelly St. John at kstjohn@sfgate.com.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO (4), (1) Aware that older brother
Jonathan (right) had hearing problems, doctors found D.J.'s impairment within a
week of his birth. / Brant Ward/The Chronicle, (2) Jonathan waited patiently
while his father, Danny Manalang, adjusted the volume and frequency of the
4-year-old's hearing implant., (3) Jonathan's implant translates sounds into
signals that are transmitted to the brain. As a result, he has started putting
words together., (4) An infant born at UCSF slept undisturbed while hooked up to
electrodes and foam rubber earphones that checked his hearing. / Photos by Brant
Ward/The Chronicle
LOAD-DATE: July 25, 2000
