A Look into the Crystal Ball for Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Needs, Opportunities, and Challenges

Hearing is essential for the development of speech, spoken language, and listening skills. Children previously went undiagnosed with hearing loss until they were 2.5 or 3 years of age. The auditory deprivation during this critical period of development significantly impacted long-term listening and spoken language outcomes. Due to the advent of universal newborn hearing screening, the average age of diagnosis has dropped to the first few months of life, which sets the stage for outcomes that include children with speech, spoken language, and auditory skill testing in the normal range. However, our work is not finished. The future holds even greater possibilities for children with hearing loss.