If you are new in parenting, then you probably can’t wait until that joyous moment of hearing your child’s first real word. When it finally happens, the first thing that many parents tend to do is write down in their baby’s book the date and time when it happened and call their relatives and friends to announce them the good news.
However, in order for your baby to pronounce his first word when it is expected, you need to make sure his hearing is okay. According to the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children, hearing loss affects one in thousand newborns in Australia. Fortunately, early diagnoses can help these babies get the best possible care during their first 2 years of life, which is an important period for the development of speech and language skills.
To make sure your baby’s hearing is okay, you need to make an appointment at a hearing test Melbourne center. That is because only hearing screening programs available at these clinics can really help you know if your baby experiences hearing loss. Besides all the other required tests, hearing tests have become an important part of the complete set of services available to make sure your baby is healthy and receiving the proper care.
Making an appointment at a hearing test Melbourne center is the first step to ensure your baby is alright. If the test discovers that he may have a hearing loss, the next thing to do is visiting an audiologist for further examination. An audiologist is a health professional who has skills to conduct further tests to find out both the type and severity of the hearing loss.
Why is a follow-up examination necessary?
An audiologist can help you in various ways. He can diagnose the type of hearing loss the patient has and may recommend a visit to the otolaryngologist, (a physician specializing in nose, ear and throat disorders) to determine the cause of the hearing loss as well as the possible treatment options. Therefore, they might recommend you to visit a speech-language pathologist or a teacher who has experience in working with children with hearing loss.
How to help your child succeed if he/she has a hearing loss?
When hearing loss is diagnosed early, chances for the child to develop language skills that will help him communicate freely and learn actively, are big. There also may be services available in your community to help support your child. In addition, talk to and communicate with him often. Seek information about available intervention programs and make sure you do all that is in your power to help him get better.
