Newborn Hearing Screening Program.

The primary justification for early identification of hearing impairment in infants relates to the impact of hearing impairment on speech and language acquisition, academic achievement, and social and emotional development [1-3]. The first three years of life are most important for speech and language acquisition. Animal studies have shown that early auditory deprivation interferes with the development of neural structures necessary for hearing. The goal of early identification and intervention is to minimize the adverse effects. Neonatal and infant screening programs using test procedure like otoacoustic (OAE) emission and auditory brain stem response (ABR) have been established worldwide for this purpose.