Standard 1: Hearing Screening

Infant Screening

Ohio legislation requires every newborn to be screened for hearing loss before leaving the hospital and for families to be provided with resources and information for follow up. Every infant who does not pass the hospital hearing screening, is referred for further audiological assessment by three months of age. If the audiological evaluation reveals that the child has a diagnosed hearing loss (permanent or fluctuating), ODH will refer the child to the EI program. If the family chooses to proceed with the referral, an EI service coordinator will be assigned to the family. The service coordinator will coordinate an eligibility determination, assessment, and initial Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). Children who passed their hearing screening at birth, may still develop a hearing loss at a later age. In children with delays or health concerns, newborn screening is not sufficient to ensure a child does not have hearing loss.

Preschool and School-Age Screening

Hearing screening is a procedure used to identify students who may require additional assessment to determine whether they have a need for a referral for a diagnostic assessment (e.g. special education and related services and/ or medical treatment). Screening procedures generally are easily administered, performed in a brief period of time, inclusive of family members’ observations and interviews, inexpensive, and indicative of the need for further evaluation. The screening facilitates identification of a suspected hearing loss, but does not provide an analysis of the type or degree of hearing loss. According to Federal IDEA Regulation, information from a hearing screening alone is not a substitute for a diagnostic assessment. Information from a hearing screening alone may not be used to determine a student’s hearing loss, but the results are used as criteria for a referral for more extensive evaluations.

Preschoolers attending a school based-program are screened each year they are enrolled in preschool. School-aged students are screened, in kindergarten, first, third, fifth, ninth and eleventh grade.

Children in Special Education Classes

Students in special education classes shall be screened at the ages that correspond to the grade levels required for all students (preschool, kindergarten, first, third, fifth, ninth, and eleventh). These students should remain in the screening program due to a higher risk of undetected hearing loss and may be candidates for optional otoacoustic emissions (OAE) testing and tympanometry screening. If the student cannot be screened, he/she should be referred for a complete medical/audiological evaluation.

Students who should not be included in the school hearing screening program include the following:

• Students who wear hearing aids.
• Students who have a cochlear implant.
• Students with known hearing loss including sensorineural and progressive hearing loss. Parent/caregiver refusal.

For students who should not be included in the school hearing screening program, follow-up with parent/caregiver is important to ensure the student is under the care of a primary care provider or audiologist.

After confirmation of hearing loss, the family and all relevant persons in the student’s environment should be counseled about the implications of hearing loss. These persons include service providers, teachers, and childcare providers.