Journey to Sound
How to navigate your child's path to hearing.
Newborn Hearing Screenings
The newborn hearing screening is a national health initiative developed to identify hearing loss from birth as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Hearing loss is the most prevalent of all conditions screened at birth, but even substantial hearing loss might not be immediately obvious in a child’s behavior. Prior to implementation of universal newborn hearing screenings, children with hearing loss were typically not identified for several years until their speech and developmental were so significantly delayed that a problem became evident. Early identification and treatment of hearing loss is critical for appropriate speech, language, social, and emotional development as your child grows.
More Information
The testing performed during the screening is called an automatic auditory brainstem response (aABR). This is a painless procedure where sounds are played to your baby’s ears through small earphones. Electrode stickers are placed on the ears and forehead to record the responses from your child’s brainstem when the sound is played. This response, or lack of response, indicates whether your baby might potentially have a hearing loss. This is all done while your baby is sleeping.
Audiology
Kimberly Miller, AuD, is a board certified Audiologist in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.
Nancy C. McLellan, AuD, is a board certified Audiologist in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.
Pediatric ENT
Zi Yang Jiang, MD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.
Zhen Huang, MD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.
Sancak Yuksel, MD, is an associate professor in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.
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