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2278 JOINT RESOLUTIONS
President, Self-Help Group for the Hard of Hearing, 4848 Battery
Lane, Bethesda, Maryland 20814; and President, Disabled in
Action, P. O. Box 1514, Baltimore, Maryland 21203
Signed May 10, 1983.
No. 14
(House Joint Resolution No. 41)
A House Joint Resolution concerning
Infants - Hearing Impairments
FOR the purpose of requesting the State Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene to develop and implement procedures for a
program for the identification of present or potential
hearing impairment at birth and follow-up of infants who
have or may develop a hearing impairment; such procedures
are to be in accordance with the guidelines established by
the 1982 Statement of the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing
of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Academy of
Otolaryngology-Head-Neck Surgery, the American Nurses
Association, and the American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association.
WHEREAS, The Joint Committee on infant hearing recommends
that whenever possible, the diagnostic process should be
completed and habilitation begun by the age of 6 months; and
WHEREAS, Reduction of the auditory signal during the
critical language-learning period can severely limit a child's
capability for developing a complete and effective communication
system; and
WHEREAS, Delayed identification also delays instruction in
speech and language, auditory training and visual modes of
communication, timely counseling, education for families, and
medical intervention; and
WHEREAS, It is well documented that a delay in learning
communication skills will preclude full benefit being derived
from expensive educational/rehabilitation programs; and
WHEREAS, Hearing-impaired adults who suffer delayed
identification and treatment are underemployed, with the majority
engaged in semiskilled or unskilled positions which are highly
vulnerable to job cuts and layoffs; and
WHEREAS, The General Assembly of Maryland has already
recognized the value of early detection by providing for the
detection of such disabilities as :
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