Early intervention for children
If your child has hearing loss, getting treatment sooner rather than later has many benefits, including laying the foundation for fundamental language and social skills.
What you will find on this page
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Discover the link between hearing and brain development
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Learn why treating hearing loss early helps children at school
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Hear from parents who acted early
Why treating hearing loss in children early is important
As a parent, you want your child to hear you say, ‘I love you’, or see their face light up when you sing to them.
Being able to hear lets your child enjoy those special moments with you. But did you know hearing is also important for developing the language and social skills that help children succeed at school and beyond?
Hearing and brain development
If your child has hearing loss, acting as early as possible is important. Research shows that children who are implanted early can learn to speak faster than those implanted later in life. In fact, performance scores in children implanted younger are closer to scores of normal hearing children.1
New evidence shows that early treatment could put your child’s development on par with their hearing peers – giving them the opportunity to excel in life.2,3
Patrick received a Cochlear hearing solution the week of his first birthday. At age 4, his school tests showed his language skills were on par with his peers. He now wants to be a veterinarian. Watch his story below.
“He gets to go to the gifted program. For someone who has hearing loss, it’s even more amazing!”
- Parents of Patrick H. - Nucleus® recipient
Hearing at school
Addressing your child’s hearing loss early can help enormously when they go to school. Benefits may include:
Attending mainstream schools
Better communication with teachers and classmates
Making new friends easily
Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) State Programs
Every state in the United States has an EHDI program to identify children with a permanent hearing loss before three months of age and to provide intervention services before six months of age.
Learn more about EDHI state programs.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
The IDEA provides free appropriate public education and early intervention programs to children with hearing loss, from birth to three. It also offers programs for ages three to 21.
Early intervention resources
Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) state programs: cdc.gov/ncbddd/hearingloss/ehdi-programs.html
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): sites.ed.gov/idea/
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing: AGBell.org
The National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management: InfantHearing.org
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association: ASHA.org
Find a Hearing Implant Specialist near you
There are no clinics close to you.
You can search for clinics in a different location, or contact Cochlear to understand what the next steps for you would be.
