Invited Lecture: Newborn Hearing Screening: History, Status, and Future Directions

The benefits of identifying childhood hearing loss during the first few months of life have been recognized since the 1940’s. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that technology evolved to the point that universal newborn hearing screening became practical and had reasonable outcomes. But, a number of challenges and opportunities for improvement remain. This presentation will summarize the history of newborn hearing screening, describe the current status around the world (with particular emphasis on the United States), and discuss the most important challenges and emerging issues that could be addressed to further improve early identification of childhood hearing loss.