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Use Screening Results to Promote School Readiness

two boys with hearing aids, playing

Engaging parents in a follow-up conversation to discuss the results of their child’s hearing screening can be helpful—even for children who pass!

Once a child’s hearing screening process is complete, you will have a good idea of the child’s ability to hear and learn spoken language. This provides an excellent opportunity to talk with parents about all of the ways a child’s communication abilities can be expanded. The resources below can help family members and other caregivers stimulate children’s receptive communication, speech and language production, social skills and general readiness for school.

1. Discuss screening results with parents

Use the tools below to talk with parents about hearing screening and why hearing health is central to a child’s language development. Ask whether they have any concerns about their child’s hearing, speech or language development (which might warrant referral to a pediatric audiologist or speech-language pathologist even if the child passed the screening) and describe why it is important to screen the child again in another year.

  1. Hearing Screening Handout for Parents [PDF] in English and Spanish [PDF]
  2. Explaining Screening Results to Parents [PDF] in English and Spanish [PDF]

2. Promote listening, language and pre-literacy skills when children pass the hearing screening

  1. Toddler Listening Milestones (for parents & teachers) 
  2. Understanding how language skills develop 
  3. Building Language and Literacy Skills (for parents & teachers) 

3. Support children identified with hearing loss

When serving a child with an identified hearing loss, it is critical that the child and family be connected with the local early intervention program and the state’s Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program. It is also important for all professionals involved to learn about the child’s mode of communication, any assistive technology that may be used, and how they can support the child and family.

  1. Checklist for Supporting Families [PDF] 
  2. Including Children with Hearing Loss in Early Childhood Programs [PDF] 
  3. Funding Hearing Aids for Children [PDF] 
  4. Parent Perspective and Empowerment [PDF] 
  5. Just in Time Resources for families of children who are hard-of-hearing or deaf 
  6. Communicate with Your Child brochure and website
  7. Maximizing Your Child's Visual Access [PDF]
  8. Hearing Aid Listening Check video (in English and Spanish) and Handout [PDF] (in English and Spanish [PDF])
  9. Other excellent resources: