KEY POINTS:
In a few months, little Ryder Bateman may be able to say the word "mum", despite being born with profound hearing loss in both ears.
The Hamilton 10-month-old is to have a cochlear implant operation at Gillies Hospital in Epsom on Wednesday.
And when it is switched on next month, the tiny device will help Ryder to develop normal speech and hearing.
But this would not have been possible without a pioneering Waikato screening programme that detects hearing problems from a baby's first day.
Without screening, hearing loss is not usually discovered until a child is between 3 and 5, by which time the formative years of speech development have been lost.
More than 10,000 babies have been through the Waikato District Health Board's newborn hearing screening programme. Of those, 24, including Ryder, have been identified with hearing loss.
The programme's success means that by 2009, all NZ newborns will be tested for hearing problems.
The scheme is being introduced from next month, starting in the Hawkes Bay, Tairawhiti (Gisborne) and Waikato District Health Board areas.
The screening will give all children born with hearing loss the opportunity to avoid speech and language difficulties later in life, said Waikato Hospital audiologist Lan Weir.
"Before the screening programme started, the average age for picking up hearing loss was about 56 months in the Waikato.
"By that time they're past the critical window for picking up speech and language normally.
"With screening, the earlier we can pick it up the earlier we can put in intervention methods, and the more likely they'll have a normal outcome."
For Jae and Erin Bateman, it means that Ryder will be only a year behind his peers.
While other children his age are talking and saying words such as "mum", Ryder is comparatively quiet, apart from the occasional squeal of delight.
Mr Bateman is deaf in one ear, so the couple expected their baby might have hearing problems.
"We did know there would be some risk involved. We thought that in the worst-case scenario it would only be in one ear," he said.
Ryder was first tested for hearing loss on July 19, when he was a day old. The test involves inserting a soft tip into the baby's ear. Clicking sounds are played through the tip and the hearing responses as they bounce back from the ear canal are picked up by screening equipment.
Ryder failed the test, which was repeated again the next day.
He was referred to an audiologist, who made the diagnosis.
"They basically told us he was seriously deaf," Mrs Bateman said.
Hearing aids were fitted when Ryder was 4 months old, but tests showed that although they helped him to hear, they were not enough to aid his speech development.
"I can stand behind him and yell but he won't hear me," Mrs Bateman said.
In cases like Ryder's, a cochlear implant is the only option. The device will not restore normal hearing, but will give him a useful representation of sounds to help him understand speech.
"It [a diagnosis of deafness] is not the best thing - you don't want to find out your child is deaf. But it is fortunate that we got it early," said Mr Bateman.
The Waikato trial is a finalist in this year's Health Innovation Awards.
