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ASHA applauds Congressman Jim Walsh (R-NY) and 28 House co-sponsors for introducing H.R. 5250, The Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Act of 2006. The legislation builds on a 1999 newborn hearing screening and intervention law to help develop more effective EHDI models and programs to address ongoing issues such as:
- follow-up for newborns who fail the hearing screening;
- family support programs for children newly identified with hearing loss;
- a postdoctoral EHDI fellowship program at the National Institutes of Health; and
- access to appropriate and timely diagnosis and early intervention services.
Hearing loss continues to be the most common birth defect in America. In 1998, just over 20% of U.S. hospitals screened newborns for hearing loss. As a result of those findings, ASHA set the goal to screen at least 90% of newborns for hearing loss by one month of age. That goal was achieved in 2005.
"Today, we must embark on a new 5-year campaign to diagnosis and provide appropriate early intervention services for children with hearing loss by six months of age," said ASHA President Alex Johnson, PhD.
"The impact of delayed detection and intervention can last a lifetime," added Dr. Johnson. "When hearing loss is found early, intervention and treatment can produce dramatic improvements in a child’s speech and language development by school age."
The Newborn Infant Hearing Screening and Intervention Act (also introduced by Rep. Walsh) was incorporated into Title VI of the Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations Act of 1999 and signed into law. The same legislation was also included in the Children's Health Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-310).
ASHA worked with Rep. Walsh, along with Rep. John Porter (R-IL), Rep. Dave Obey (D-WI), and Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), to shepherd the original legislation through Congress in 1999, creating a comprehensive federal effort to assist states in establishing EHDI programs to detect hearing loss in newborns and to promote appropriate early intervention services when hearing loss is diagnosed.
For further information, please contact Jim Potter, ASHA’s Director of Government Relations and Public Policy, at jpotter@asha.org or by phone at 800-498-2071, ext. 4125.
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