Have you ever wondered if your infant or child is hearing
properly? Many parents of children with a hearing loss are all
too familiar with the scenario in the film Mr. Holland's Opus:
The mother suspects a hearing loss in her infant son because he
doesn't seem to respond appropriately to the sounds around him.
The father is stunned to hear his wife's suspicions, and the
couple visits the doctor only to have their worst fears
confirmed. Fortunately for the Hollands, their son's hearing
loss was identified in infancy. All too often, one parent (or
the doctor) tells the other parent that the baby is just fine,
or to wait and see since the time period for normal language
development can vary. As a result, nothing is done to test the
child's hearing, and the parents find out months or years later
that the initial instinct was correct. Should you be concerned
about whether your infant is hearing normally? Approximately
three in every 1,000 babies are born with a loss that is
considered to be significant. Many more