Page 25 - Senior Link Magazine Summer 2017- Online Magazine

QUALITY HEARING

IMPORTANT AT ALL AGES

by Gayle (Wampler) Willson

The young professional, now 30, is a graduate of Texas Because her own son lost three valuable years of hearing,
Tech University in Chemical Engineering. He is a husband she is dedicated to the prevention of that tragedy for other
and the father of a beautiful six-month-old baby girl. In parents and children. Her son did not have the privilege of
addition, he is proficient in sign language and reads lips, mandatory newborn hearing screening. What a blessing it
because he is severe to profoundly deaf in both ears. is to give new parents the glowing report, “He/she passed
He wears two hearing aids, which allows him to hear both ears!” And what an honor it was for her to be able to
the giggles and squeals of his precious daughter, as she deliver the same report to her son and his wife that her new
reaches out to pull on his beard. granddaughter “PASSED” .
He was first diagnosed at 18 months as being a “lazy
talker”, depending on his two older sisters to do his
communicating. At the age of three, and after many months Come visit one of South Plains area offices, in Lubbock
of speech therapy, it was determined that he had an acute and Plainview. We offer FREE adult screenings,
hearing loss due to a traumatic birth, and was fitted with discounts on repairs on hearing aids, ear canal
two hearing aids. His world changed! So did ours, because inspections, and a cup of coffee.
he is our son.
When you visit a Hearing Health Care office, you might Grand Hearing Center has carried on the Wampler
expect, the usual ear canal exam, the hearing screening legacy of serving you for 41 years.
and a full evaluation of your hearing. You would assume
there would be follow up adjustments to hearing aids and
literature about the treatment of hearing loss. but you
might not expect a quiet room with a rocking chair, brightly
colored baby quilts and a sound booth. This room in our
office is the result of Texas House Bill 714, passed in 1999.
That year, following extensive research, a mandate was
decreed that newborns need to be tested to determine their
hearing levels. In 2000 a law was passed to test every
newborn to confirm their ability to hear common sounds
and human voices. Two to three babies are born in Texas
each day (2%) who are hard of hearing or deaf. Research
has shown that professionals can stimulate damaged
nerves from birth to six months, and thereby grant a
child with developmentally impaired hearing the ability to
communicate. 1
At Grand Hearing Center, we offer this service and follow-
up referrals if necessary. We work with midwife deliveries,
and through private appointments, using a TOAE (Transient
Otoemissions Acoustics) system of testing. Babies are
also tested in the hospital as part of their discharge
screenings. Babies who have a high risk birth (requiring
NICU or having other specific risk factors) may require
additional screenings to ensure a hearing loss is not going
undetected.
Gayle Willson served as the manager of the newborn
screening programs in two hospitals for many years, and
continues her passion for little ones. She is the mother
of the young man whose story introduced this article.

1 Texas Department of State Health Services, www.dshs.texas.gov/tehdi
Lubbock Senior Link 25