Free Texting Program Helps Families Navigate a Hearing Loss Diagnosis

A hearing loss diagnosis can be scary and overwhelming for parents of infants and toddlers. That’s why Bright by Text, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), and the Helping Adults Talk to Children (HATCH) Lab at Idaho State University have teamed up. 

Any parent with a child ages birth to 3 years who is concerned about their child’s hearing can now text the word HEAR to 274 448 to receive free text messages, in English or Spanish, that provide information about hearing loss—and connect them to help and support.

In the United States, 3 out of every 1,000 babies are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears. More than 90% of deaf children are born to parents who hear, which can make the news of a hearing loss very unexpected. It’s critical that all families with a child who is deaf or hard of hearing have access to clear, accurate information that explains the communication options for their child and how they can best support their child’s development. 

Left unaddressed in infants and toddlers, hearing loss (even a mild hearing loss) can lead to delays in speech, language, and cognitive development. From birth to age 3, brain and communication development are fueled by exposure to language, including spoken and signed languages. If a child has an unknown or unaddressed hearing loss, they may miss out on some to all of that language during a critical period of development.

Studies have shown that children identified at birth with hearing loss who begin receiving early intervention services before they are 6 months of age often develop language (spoken or signed) on par with peers who have typical hearing.

For more information and to sign up for messages, visit www.brightbytext.org/Families.