Neonatal Screening

Hearing Impairment is a hidden disability which is usually detected by parents only after 2 years
of age. Since it is not an external disability the symptoms are not easily identified earlier. Late
detection causes irreversible stunting of language development potential of the child.

It is best if hearing impairments can be identified when infants are less than six months old,
regardless of the degree of hearing impairment. Early identification and intervention can prevent
severe psycho-social, educational, and linguistic repercussions.

Hearing Impairment can be diagnosed at any age in the child’s growth. A hearing screening can
be done for children right from the day of birth. SAHI uses the Oto Acoustic Emission (OAE)
device to screen the neonates. This device is used successfully because it is a very sensitive, non-
invasive, cost and time effective procedure.

HOW IT WORKS

A trained audiologist carries out the test in a quiet room. A small soft tipped ear piece is placed
gently in the outer part of the baby’s ear. When the ear receives a sound,the inner part, known as
Cochlea produces an echo. Using the OAE machine, the audiologist can see how the baby’s ears
respond to the sound. Each ear is tested in turn. The test takes about 5-10 minutes and has a
sensitivity of more than 90%.

DEAF FREE ZONE

On the occasion of its 10th anniversary, SAHI initiated an ambitious programme called ‘Deaf
Free Telangana’ by adopting Chevella parliamentary constituency with the aim of making it a
‘deaf free zone’ over the next two years.

The project includes intensive public awareness programmes, regular camps for children below
the age of 15, distribution of hearing aids and providing free corrective surgical procedures for
the hearing impaired.

This programme has been implemented with the help of Apollo Hospitals and Apollo Institute of
Medical Sciences and Research.

In conjunction with Apollo, SAHI set up its first camp on the 19th of October, 2014 in Chevella.
In this camp, the team screened 250 children, provided hearing aids free of cost to 8 children and
enrolled 18 more children for surgeries.
THERAPY

Therapy given to the children post-surgery, focuses on learning through listening and speaking.
The aim of this therapy is to train hearing impaired and speech impaired children to listen and
understand spoken language in order to help them communicate through speech using hearing
aids or cochlear implants.

To date we have trained over 1200+ children with cochlear implants as well as children with
hearing aids and other disabilities. Most of these children are now successfully integrated into
mainstream schools.

Cochlear Implant Club

The Cochlear Implant Club comprises of approximately 1200+ members who have received
Cochlear Implant surgeries at Apollo CI Clinic.

The benefit of being a CI member includes one year of free follow-up care, with doctors helping
develop a road map for ongoing care that include therapy sessions, mapping and the monitoring
of ongoing hygiene. SAHI team keeps in touch with club members and tries to support them
throughout the process in the most optimal way possible.