Guam § 4102 - Legislative Findings and Intent.

§ 4102. Legislative Findings and Intent.

I Liheslaturan Guåhan hereby finds that significant hearing loss is one

of the most common major abnormalities present at birth and, if undetected,

will impede the child=s speech, language, and cognitive development.

Screening by high-risk characteristics alone (e.g., family history of

deafness) only identifies approximately fifty percent (50%) of newborns

with significant hearing loss. Reliance solely on physician and/or parental

observation fails to identify many cases of significant hearing loss in

newborns and infants. There is evidence that children with hearing loss,

who are identified at birth and receive intervention services shortly

thereafter, have significantly better learning capacity than children who are

identified with hearing loss later than six (6) months after birth. Legislation

is needed to provide for the early detection of hearing loss in newborns and

infants and to prevent or mitigate the developmental delays associated with

late identification of hearing loss. Through tracking and surveillance of

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AND INTERVENTION ACT (UNHSIA) OF 2004

infants with hearing impairments, the loss to follow-up services is

alleviated.

It is therefore the intent of I Liheslaturan Guåhan to provide for the

early detection and intervention of hearing loss in newborn children at the

hospital or as soon after birth as possible, to enable these children and their

families/caregivers to obtain needed multi-disciplinary evaluation,

treatment, and intervention services at the earliest opportunity and to

prevent or mitigate the developmental delays and academic failures

associated with late identification of hearing loss. Furthermore, I

Liheslaturan Guåhan intends to provide the community of Guam with the

information necessary to effectively plan, establish, and evaluate a

comprehensive system of appropriate services for newborns and infants

who have a hearing loss or are deaf and to further provide assurance that a

smooth transition from the current Federally-funded health initiative in

hearing screening, detection, and intervention is made from the University

of Guam, Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education,

Research, and Services (UOG CEDDERS) to the Department of Public

Health and Social Services (DPH&SS).