Fitting hearing-aids to children suffering hearing loss within six months of birth significantly improves their speech and language ability through early childhood, new research by Australian Hearing’s National Acoustic Laboratories has found.
Minister for Human Services Senator the Hon Senator Marise Payne commended the NAL on its ground breaking study, which has recently received a USD $1.5 million grant from the USA’s National Institutes of Health to continue the study of hearing-impaired children for a further four years.
“This new funding indicates the importance the world places on this study” she said.
NAL’s Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment study evaluated the speech, language and functional performance of more than 450 children after they were fitted with a hearing-aid or cochlear implant within the first 12 months of birth. The children were re-tested at three and five years.
Results released today show:
· Children who had hearing-aids fitted before they reached six months of age were associated with better language skills at five years of age.
· Children who had cochlear implantations before reaching twelve months of age had better language outcomes at three and five years of age.
· However, most hearing-impaired children demonstrated significant deficits in skills critical to reading development at five years of age.
Minister Payne said the results of NAL’s unique study provided the first concrete evidence of the effectiveness of Australia’s Universal Newborn Hearing Screening programs.
“Australia is lucky to have a system where almost all children have their hearing screened within a few days of birth, and where once a possible problem is detected, a full diagnostic test is performed soon after,” Minister Payne said.
“Those found to have a permanent hearing loss receive expert, specialised help from Australian Hearing within the first few months of life.”
NAL Director Professor Harvey Dillon said the streamlined system in Australia made it possible for NAL to conduct the most comprehensive longitudinal study in the world into the effects of hearing loss on children.
“The study showed the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening is producing the benefits that the world hoped it would.”
“The results have also shown us that many children born with hearing loss still have marked deficits in their language and pre-reading skills in early childhood compared to their peers with normal hearing, so the future of this study is of great importance.”
NAL study leader Dr Teresa Ching said study showed that by age five the children had deficits in the way they could combine speech sounds to produce words or break up words into their constituent sounds.
“We expect these deficits will cause problems with reading,’’ Ms Ching said.
“Our research will lead to new ways of teaching these children to learn basic sound skills, despite their hearing loss.”
The Australian Government has contributed funding directly and via the HEARing Cooperative Research Centre.
HEARing Cooperative Research Centre Chief Executive Officer Professor Robert Cowan said the research showed what close collaboration could achieve.
“Most of the organisations involved in the care of hearing impaired children have participated in this study.”
For more information about Australian Hearing visit www.hearing.com.au or call 131 797.