HLAA Webinar: Catching Kids Before They Fall: Pediatric Late Onset Hearing Loss Awareness

In the United States, nearly 98% of newborns are screened for hearing loss. While the newborn hearing screening program is aimed at identifying hearing loss at the time of birth, sometimes the change in hearing status happens later. In fact, incidence of permanent hearing loss doubles between birth and school age. Too often young children with postnatal hearing loss fall through the cracks. They go unidentified for months or years — leading to speech, language and other developmental delays and social, emotional and academic struggles. The pediatric Late Onset Hearing Loss Awareness Campaign aims to shine a spotlight on a segment of children who are at risk of falling through the cracks. By increasing community awareness of the true prevalence, risk factors and common signs of childhood hearing loss, families can be encouraged to seek a pediatric hearing evaluation and can be more promptly connected to services and supports if hearing loss is confirmed.

Presented by

Valerie James Abbott

Author, Family Educator, Center for Family Involvement at the Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)

Valerie James Abbott is an award-winning author, a parent-champion for early hearing detection and intervention and co-founder of Late Onset Hearing Loss Awareness Week. She serves as a 1-3-6 family educator at the Center for Family Involvement at the Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), supporting families of children recently identified with hearing loss and leading projects aimed at reducing loss to follow up for the Virginia Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Program. Her debut children’s book, Padapillo, was published in May 2021. The book is based on the true story of how her family discovered and came to understand her youngest child’s late onset hearing loss.

Christine Eubanks, Ph.D.

Clinical Audiologist, Longwood Speech, Hearing and Learning Center at Longwood University

Christine Eubanks, Ph.D., is the clinical audiologist at the Longwood Speech, Hearing and Learning Center at Longwood University, where she also teaches the undergraduate audiology course. Dr. Eubanks serves as the audiology faculty member for the Virginia State Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) program and is an active member and former chair of the Virginia EHDI Program’s Advisory Committee. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Memphis, her master’s degree from Columbia University and her bachelor’s degree from Boston University.

Justin Osmond

CEO, Olive Osmond Hearing Fund

Justin Osmond is CEO and founder of the Olive Osmond Hearing Fund, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with hearing loss by improving access to hearing technology. He has traveled across the U.S. and throughout the world, bringing hope and help to people to hearing loss in historically underserved communities and undeveloped countries. His memoir, Hearing with My Heart, describes his personal experiences as a young child with profound hearing loss and the root of his motivation to help others dream big. In 2021, Justin launched the Late Onset Hearing Loss Awareness Campaign to shine a spotlight on a segment of children who are at risk of language and developmental delays.