We suggest that the screening survey be sent to all birthing centers in your state. The screening surveys should be returned by you to the Marion Downs National Center no later than June 30, 1998. Below is a sample letter that you might adapt to introduce the screening survey to birthing centers in your state.

May, 1998

The Public Health Department of the State of ______________ requests your

participation in a statewide assessment of the status of newborn hearing screening programs, audiological diagnostic centers and early intervention programs.

Late identification of hearing loss presents a significant public health concern. Three out of 1000 babies are born with permanent hearing loss. However, without screening, children with hearing loss are usually not identified until two years of age, which results in significant delays in speech, language, social, cognitive and emotional development.

In contrast, early identification and intervention prior to 6 months of age has a significant positive impact on development. Even when infants participate in a newborn hearing screening program, there often is a significant lag time between screening and pediatric audiologic assessment and between confirmation of hearing loss and the start of intervention services.

Our state is a key player in a national initiative aimed at achieving identification of hearing loss in infants by 3 months of age and enrollment in intervention by six months of age. We are one of 19 states participating in a grant from the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to establish effective statewide systems for early identification and intervention of infants with hearing loss.

Enclosed you will find a survey on newborn hearing screening programs. We ask that you fill it out whether or not your site currently has a newborn hearing screening program. Your responses will provide important information to us as we work towards establishing comprehensive systems for newborn hearing screening, assessment and intervention. Please return this survey in the enclosed envelope to our office by June 15, 1998.

Please contact me if you have any questions regarding this survey.

Thank you for your assistance in completing this important survey.

May, 1998

The Public Health Department of the State of ______________ requests your participation in a statewide assessment of the status of newborn hearing screening programs, audiological diagnostic centers, and early intervention programs.

Late identification of hearing loss presents a significant public health concern. Three out of 1000 babies are born with permanent hearing loss. However, without screening, children with hearing loss are usually not identified until two years of age, which results in significant delays in speech, language, social, cognitive and emotional development. In contrast, early identification and intervention prior to 6 months of age has a significant positive impact on development. Even when infants participate in a newborn hearing screening program, there often is a significant lag time between screening and pediatric audiologic assessment and between confirmation of hearing loss and the start of intervention services.

Our state is a key player in a national initiative aimed at achieving identification of hearing loss in infants by 3 months of age and enrollment in intervention by six months of age. We are one of 19 states participating in a grant from the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to establish effective statewide systems for early identification and intervention of infants with hearing loss.

Enclosed you will find a survey on pediatric audiology services for infants and toddlers ages birth-36 months. Your responses will provide important information to us as we work towards establishing comprehensive systems for newborn hearing screening, assessment and intervention. One outcome of the survey will be a documentation of current practices of audiologists in our state who provide services to children birth-36 months of age. Another outcome of the survey will be a compilation of a directory of audiologists who provide services to infants and children birth-36 months of age. You must complete and return this survey to our office by June 15, 1998 in order to be included in this directory.

An important objective of our statewide system is to keep track of the number of children confirmed with hearing loss each year in our state. Therefore, the survey includes several questions regarding confirmation of hearing loss. We ask that you fill out these questions as accurately as possible. At the same time, we recognize that some pediatric audiology sites do not have information readily available regarding the number of children they confirm with hearing loss each year. To facilitate this sort of record keeping, we have enclosed a confirmed hearing loss report that your center might want to consider using.

We appreciate your help in completing this audiology survey.

Please feel free to contact me with questions or feedback regarding this survey.