Equal opportunities for children with hearing loss by means of early identification
Infant hearing loss is a silent, overlooked epidemic of developing countries because its invisible nature prevents detection by means of routine clinical procedures despite being the most common birth defect. Even though it is not a life-threatening condition, failure to intervene in time renders it...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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AOSIS
2007-02-01
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| Series: | South African Family Practice |
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| Online Access: | https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/676 |
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| author | DeWet Swanepoel Suzanne Delport Johannes Swart |
| author_facet | DeWet Swanepoel Suzanne Delport Johannes Swart |
| author_sort | DeWet Swanepoel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Infant hearing loss is a silent, overlooked epidemic of developing countries because its invisible nature prevents detection by means of routine clinical procedures despite being the most common birth defect. Even though it is not a life-threatening condition, failure to intervene in time renders it a severe threat to critical quality of life indicators such as education, employment and societal integration. This stands in stark contrast to current evidence which indicate early identification for infants with hearing loss followed by subsequent intervention leads to linguistic, speech and cognitive development that is comparable to normal hearing peers. Unfortunately initial detection of hearing loss in South Africa is primarily passive, when critical periods have passed, as a result of parental concern about observed speech and language delays, unusual behaviour or the complications of otitis media. Although the South African governmental policy guidelines favour the philosophy of screening for hearing loss in infants the implementation is not realised. Widespread newborn and infant hearing screening programmes must be established to ensure equal opportunities for children with hearing loss in South Africa. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-64df0cd5dcfa404f8c7221b8e4717b0e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2078-6190 2078-6204 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2007-02-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | South African Family Practice |
| spelling | doaj-art-64df0cd5dcfa404f8c7221b8e4717b0e2025-08-20T03:46:54ZengAOSISSouth African Family Practice2078-61902078-62042007-02-0149110.1080/20786204.2007.10873492658Equal opportunities for children with hearing loss by means of early identificationDeWet Swanepoel0Suzanne Delport1Johannes Swart2University of PretoriaKalafong Hospital, South Africa; and, University of PretoriaUniversity of PretoriaInfant hearing loss is a silent, overlooked epidemic of developing countries because its invisible nature prevents detection by means of routine clinical procedures despite being the most common birth defect. Even though it is not a life-threatening condition, failure to intervene in time renders it a severe threat to critical quality of life indicators such as education, employment and societal integration. This stands in stark contrast to current evidence which indicate early identification for infants with hearing loss followed by subsequent intervention leads to linguistic, speech and cognitive development that is comparable to normal hearing peers. Unfortunately initial detection of hearing loss in South Africa is primarily passive, when critical periods have passed, as a result of parental concern about observed speech and language delays, unusual behaviour or the complications of otitis media. Although the South African governmental policy guidelines favour the philosophy of screening for hearing loss in infants the implementation is not realised. Widespread newborn and infant hearing screening programmes must be established to ensure equal opportunities for children with hearing loss in South Africa.https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/676infant hearing lossearly identificationearly intervention |
| spellingShingle | DeWet Swanepoel Suzanne Delport Johannes Swart Equal opportunities for children with hearing loss by means of early identification South African Family Practice infant hearing loss early identification early intervention |
| title | Equal opportunities for children with hearing loss by means of early identification |
| title_full | Equal opportunities for children with hearing loss by means of early identification |
| title_fullStr | Equal opportunities for children with hearing loss by means of early identification |
| title_full_unstemmed | Equal opportunities for children with hearing loss by means of early identification |
| title_short | Equal opportunities for children with hearing loss by means of early identification |
| title_sort | equal opportunities for children with hearing loss by means of early identification |
| topic | infant hearing loss early identification early intervention |
| url | https://safpj.co.za/index.php/safpj/article/view/676 |
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