Digital hearing technology company Tuned has announced the launch of a new app to provide hearing screening and care for children ages 13-17, combining current knowledge and technology with teleaudiology to update a testing method that has been unchanged for half a century, the company said.
"Hearing loss has always been ignored because it can't be seen, and most people don't understand the connection between hearing and learning," Tuned founder and CEO Danny Aronson said in a news release on PR Newswire. "Children are especially vulnerable to hearing loss since they are more sensitive to loud sounds and damage can occur at lower levels in less amount of time. By offering a modern solution as an employee benefit, Tuned is making sure parents have the agency to protect their children, and to navigate care, insurance, and state regulations when searching for solutions for their child's hearing loss."
The development of speech and language skills in children can be negatively impacted by hearing loss, as it hinders the development of communication-related areas in the brain, a Cincinnati Children's Hospital webpage says. However, early identification and management of hearing loss help caregivers and professionals facilitate effective communication and improve outcomes, the news release said.
Children with hearing loss often go unnoticed, which can lead to educational neglect, the news release said. Most children aren't screened for hearing loss beyond infancy, which puts them at risk of struggling in school. It is estimated that approximately one to three of every 1,000 children in the U.S. experience hearing loss and around 12.5% of children between the ages of 6 and 19 exhibit signs of noise-induced hearing loss, the release said.
Tuned says that through the platform, kids will have access to a pediatric audiologist for consultation, and parents who use it will be provided an iPad and headphones equipped with two pre-loaded hearing assessment "games" to measure a child's ability to keep a beat, hear, and comprehend, the PR Newswire release said. The program will provide caregivers with resources to assist parents with potential treatments and solutions, including information on local resources, Tuned said.
"Children with undiagnosed hearing loss are simply missed, placed in special education or misdiagnosed with learning disabilities, such as ADHD," Dr. Jacqueline Scholl, Head of Pediatrics at Tuned, said in the release. "Research and technology have advanced to the point that there is no reason hearing loss is not identified. Parents have the right to give their children the care they need to ensure they succeed both academically and socially."
