Commonly Asked Questions
The following question came up at a recent Program Managers meeting.
"What are some of the red flags to let us know when a referral should be made to an audiologist".
Some thoughts in response:
1) Did the child pass or fail newborn hearing screening? If the parents don't know, find out. If they failed, did they followup with an audiologist to confirm a hearing loss? If not, refer to a DSCC audiologist right away. If they passed as a newborn but now have concerns, contact the DSCC office to complete the paperwork prior to audiology testing.
2) Please refer to the Service Guidelines for Young Children Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. This document was written for Early Intervention and children ages 0-3. I'm attaching a copy below along with the Vision ServiceGuidelines. These can also be found on the HVEIO website at http://www.morgan.k12.il.us/isd/hveio/ It would be helpful if each of your Service Coordinators has a copy of both sets. Within the guidelines, you will find a developmental checklist for hearing and for vision, for babies ages 0-3. If the child is notreaching these milestones, that certainly would be a red flag. The guidelines also have a quick screening toolthat can be used to ask the parent questions. This would also identify any red flags. As a note, the hearing guidelines will be revised soon to more fully incorporate Universal Newborn Hearing Screening. You will receive the revised version when it's available.
3) A Speech-Language Pathologist providing services to the child would typically rule out hearing as a possiblecause of the delay by recommending an audiology evaluation. If this wasn't done, referral to an audiologist to eliminate the doubt is indicated.
4) Hearing and Vision Early Intervention Outreach can provide your staff/area providers with training on conducting a functional vision or hearing screen that can be done by anyone in a matter of minutes These trainings have been extremely popular and have led to the identification of many children needing further testing. If you are interested in having us do this in your area, please contact me as we are beginning to set up the FY 05 training calendar and would love to reserve a date for you. There are a few of "Functional Vision and Hearing Screening " trainings with openings remaining this year. Perhaps one of them is near you. Please visit the available trainings here for more information.