NZ slow to identify children with hearing loss

Disability representatives have met with government officials to address a national problem of late detection of hearing loss in children.

A National Foundation for the Deaf (NFD) statement released yesterday said that in the last ten years, the average age for identifying children born with hearing loss had increased from two to nearly four years of age.

The international standard is three months.

A project group from the hearing sector yesterday met with the Minister of Disability Issues and the Labour Health Caucus to present a case to improve the situation.

NFD executive manager Marianne Schumacher said she believed an early detection and intervention programme was essential to improve the educational, social and emotional outcomes for children born with hearing impairments.

"A late diagnosis can significantly impact on a child's ability to build the foundation skills to succeed educationally and develop socially.

One of the most serious problems following late detection was delayed language development during the critical learning period.

"Lack of communication threatens the core qualities of life and can result in emotional stress, depression and isolation. It also narrows vocational choice and reduces chances of employment," Ms Schumacher said.

NFD chairman Peter Thorne said New Zealand possibly had the worst statistic in the developed world for the early detection of hearing loss.

The sector had been working towards the introduction of newborn screening for many years.

"Significant results have been seen in the small programmes that have been running in Gisborne and the Waikato. We now want to see a national newborn screening and intervention programme that will detect and deal with the 170 babies that are born with a hearing impairment every year," Mr Thorne said.

- NZPA