Callier Visitors Learn About Screening Program

The UT Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders recently hosted an official from Mexico’s National Council for Persons with Disabilities, who visited to learn more about the Texas Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (TEHDI) Program.

Since 1999, TEHDI has required certain birthing facilities to offer hearing screenings to all newborns. The goal is to identify infants with hearing loss as soon as possible so that they can receive additional evaluation and early intervention services. 

The Mexican government is supporting an initiative to institute a similar universal newborn hearing screening program.

Dr. Javier Osorio, the technical secretary for Mexico’s National Council for Persons with Disabilities, sought to learn more about the Texas program and about Callier’s role in the screening and evaluation process.

“Newborn screening, diagnosis and treatment are so important because early treatment of hearing loss with hearing aids and cochlear implants has been shown to result in normal and near-normal acquisition of speech and language,” said Dr. Lee Wilson, head of audiology at the Callier Center. “We are excited that Mexico wants to develop a program similar to the Texas program, and we want to support them any way we can.”

Audiologists from the Callier Center used to visit local hospitals to conduct part of the inpatient screening. Today, most of the local hospitals conduct the entire screening process but send the patients who fail the screening to Callier for further diagnostic evaluations and hearing aid fittings, if necessary.

As required by law, the Callier Center’s audiologists submit reports on each contact with the babies using the Oz System. This information management system allows the state to monitor and track the progress for each baby.

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