Infant Hearing Program

Your Child Has a Hearing Loss

If your baby has been diagnosed with any type of hearing loss from a unilateral loss, a mild, moderate, severe, profound hearing loss or Auditory Dyssynchrony/Neuropathy, the Infant Hearing Program will be involved with you and your child until your child reaches 6 years of age.

The IHP Audiologist involved with your baby will make a referral for any child identified with a permanent hearing loss to a Pediatric Otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist), for consultation and evaluation.

A Family Support Worker (FSW) will be involved with your family to support you throughout the process from diagnoses to discharge. She will help you to understand the hearing loss and its impact on you and your child’s life. The FSW will coordinate services for your child and liase with other professionals on your behalf. The FSW will inform you of, and help you to apply for any applicable funding. At the time of school entry there will be a transition to school plan in order to transfer some services your child may be receiving.

The IHP will also provide services to support the development of the language and communication skills of the baby. Each family will make an informed decision about which mode of communication is best for their child and which community agency (ies) would best suit the family's needs d3ependidng on the nature of the hearing loss. The IHP will support the family in their choice (s).

Your child will require ongoing hearing assessments and depending on the nature of the loss will require various other services available through the Infant Hearing Program.