Looking for the Hearing-Impaired Child: Past, Present and Future

Throughout the last century the clinical audiological field has seen a substantial development – nearly a revolution – in technology with the introduction and implementation of equipment for detection of hearing-impaired children, for diagnostic testing of hearing disorders, for restoration of hearing by surgery and for amelioration of hearing impairment (HI) – even profound by hearing instruments including cochlear implants. Numerous hearing-impaired and deaf children have benefited from this development by improving their opportunity for language and speech acquisition, for social adjustment and education through the improvement of their communication skills – and thus also in their quality of life. This endnote address will concentrate on the early identification of infants/children with congenital/early acquired (i.e., neonatal period) permanent hearing impairment (CHI) and on the etiological evaluation by describing some past and present issues relating to these topics. In this context will not be focused on assessment, nor on amplification, and the reader is referred to Seewald (2000) in addition to other chapters within this volume. Although the future cannot be predicted, the rapid development during the last decade within molecular genetics will have implications for the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of hearingimpaired children, and these implications will also be hinted at.