CDC Newborn Screening: Hearing the Difference

newbor screening includes genetic testing physical exams and other diagnostic exams including a hearing screening hearing screening is What affected our family the most my son failed his newborn hearing screening test hi my name is Michelle I'm a parent of three my son Tyson is eight my daughter Trinity is six and my son Lane is three lane had a significant um traumatic event at Birth my son was put on life support and on a cooling met and and put into an induced coma um and so during that time it the situation was so critical that newborn screening wasn't necessarily discussed with me and they said well don't worry about it you have bigger things uh on your plate due to his health issues so I really didn't register at that time that this could be important that this hearing test was actually be part of the newborn screening process so it was a a fascinating roller coaster of information to take in uh newborn screening needs to be a topic that is normalized even during uh prenatal classes um amongst families amongst friends um you know I think nobody really necessarily wants to speak about it because we don't want to talk about the wh ifs or the Mayes or the could bees um you know everyone wants to have that wonderful fantasy of having you know the perfect pregn pregnancy or adoption or whatever the case may be um and that's just not always the case I think uh in this case more information is better it's better to go into a situation informed you know families will do better if they know better and if they don't know then they don't know so for me my advocacy work around newborn screening primarily has been around the hearing screening uh simply because that's what affected my family and my child the most that there is no standard for all across all states um you know it varies state to state so if you had um a child in one state and have moved it's not going to necessarily look or feel the same I'm hoping that we can get to the point where families feel empowered by this information and that they understand it um specifically around the hearing side of newborn screening it's really important for children to be able to have access to communication no matter how it may be whether through American Sign Language um a different sign language CED speak um you know these things are important to be able to give your child the access that they need in order to grow and develop