Science, Not Philosophy, Will Help Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children Reach Their Potential

Abstract

Survival, developmental outcomes, and quality of life have been transformed over the past 30 years for infants suffering a wide range of previously devastating conditions. Children affected by prematurity, cystic fibrosis, and congenital heart disease now survive and indeed thrive into adulthood. Technical advances have proceeded alongside coordinated programs of multicenter registries and trials, driven by clinicians and researchers motivated to not only continually push the boundaries of postdiagnosis treatment but to show that children reap the benefits. The past 30 years have also heralded astonishing advances for children born deaf and hard of hearing. The first pediatric cochlear implantation in 1985 was followed by the discovery of the first of many genes for nonsyndromic hearing impairment1,2 in the 1990s. Widespread implementation of universal newborn hearing screening programs in the early 2000s means that hearing impairment is now routinely diagnosed in the first 3 postnatal months. For the first time in history, we have the opportunity to learn how to prevent language delay, so that … Address correspondence to Melissa Wake, MD, Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children’s Hospital, Flemington Rd, Parkville 3052, Australia. E-mail: melissa.wake{at}rch.org.au