The Social-Emotional Ramifications of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening, Early Identification and Intervention of Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) was begun in the United States in several geographic locations, the states of Rhode Island, Hawaii, and Colorado in the early 1990s. Since that time, evidence-based research indicates that universal newborn hearing screening results in earlier identification of congenital hearing loss leading to the provision of earlier intervention. Outcome data of children identified early indicates significantly higher language development when compared to children with later-identified hearing loss. Children identified with hearing loss within the first few months of life maintain language development within the low average range of typical development for the first five years of life. A frequently posed question regarding the establishment of universal newborn hearing screening is whether such early screening may cause parental harm both 1) to parents of children who are referred for further testing as a result of the newborn screening but whose children ultimately pass the hearing screening and 2) to parents of children who are diagnosed with congenital sensori-neural hearing loss because of injury to parental bonding. This article addresses the issue of UNHS programs and the impact on social-emotional characteristics of the parent and child with hearing loss and the parent of children with normal hearing referred for additional testing after initial newborn hearing screening. Several indices of parental harm have been used in a variety of research.