Why early hearing is so important
The hearing part of the brain starts to develop in the womb and is pre-wired to understand sound. By the time your child says their first word they have been listening to the language that surrounds them for about a year. In time, your child starts to put meaning to what they have been hearing.
The longer your child goes without being able to hear sounds, the more difficult it is to learn spoken language. The development of the hearing part of the brain is very rapid in babies, with the most critical time period being from birth to 4 years of age. That’s why permanent hearing loss requires early diagnosis and treatment if your child is going to have the best chance of learning to speak.
We recommend that all parents have their babies hearing tested to ensure they have access to sound. The earlier these tests are performed, the better the opportunities are to provide treatment to children with a hearing loss.
 |
Find out where your local screening centre is |
 |
Find out what are the early signs (sometimes called symptoms). |
 |
Learn about screening and full evaluation tests for babies and young children.
|