Rationale for Periodic Screening

Permanent hearing loss is the most common birth defect in the United States. Approximately 1 out of every 300 children in the U.S. is born with a significant hearing loss. Most newborns in the U.S. now receive an initial hearing screening prior to hospital discharge. As a result, some babies may be referred to a pediatric audiologist and fitted with hearing aids by four weeks of age. Unfortunately, follow-up from newborn hearing screening has been less comprehensive in most states with only about 50% of infants who are referred for medical or audiological follow-up receiving timely assessment or intervention.

Introduction to Otoacoustic Emission (OAE) Screening

Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) hearing screening is an objective method that screens hearing in a range of sound frequencies critical for normal speech and language development and is considered the most reliable method for screening infants and toddlers. Introduction to Otoacoustic Emission (OAE) Screening»

Current Activities: OAE Screening in Head Start

NCHAM has been assisting Head Start programs by: 1) establishing state-wide Early Childhood Hearing Outreach (ECHO) Training and Technical Assistance Teams that provide training and technical assistance to programs and  2) developing resources that support Head Start programs in participating  independently, garnering their own training and technical support from local audiologists and other experts. (View video clips of Parent, Physician, ECHO Team and Head Start Participant Reflections on Periodic Hearing Screening.)

Participating Head Start programs receive:

• Comprehensive hands-on training and ongoing technical assistance.
• Assistance in obtaining OAE hearing screening equipment.
• Resources for documenting screening, tracking, and follow-up activities.  State-Level Participation»

Getting Started and OAE Screening Implementation Checklist

Use the checklist below as you plan and implement your screening program in collaboration with the audiologist. This checklist can be downloaded for use in planning meetings with your staff and consulting audiologist: OAE Hearing Screening Implementation Checklist» [PDF, 21.2KB]

Early Childhood Hearing Resources and Handouts

These resources and handouts include all of the materials you should need to implement an OAE screening program, including the resources an audiologist needs to provide a Head Start program with training and technical assistance. Early Childhood Hearing Resources & Handouts»

Recursos en Español

• Evaluación de emisiones otoacústicas (OAE) [PDF, 88KB] 
• Carta de recomendación
• Formulario de seguimiento al diagnóstico [PDF, 61.8KB]
• Formulario de evaluación OAE—Protocolo de dos etapas [PDF, 91.6KB]
• Pasos para implementar la evaluación OAE [PDF, 63.5KB]
• Videos de OAE
• Un Buen Inicio Auditivo: Actualización de prácticas de evaluación durante la infancia [PDF, 1.9MB]