Louisiana’s Early Hearing Detection
    And Intervention Program (EHDI)
The 1 - 3 – 6 Plan

Screening before 1 month of age
Diagnosis before 3 months of age
Intervention before 6 months of age

Giving Louisiana’s babies a Sound Start in life!  

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Louisiana law requires that every baby born in a birthing center in Louisiana be screened for hearing loss before discharge.  The Office of Public Health under the Department of Health and Hospitals is the state agency designated by the law to administer the newborn hearing screening program in accordance with Act 653 passed by the Louisiana Legislature in 1999.  The Administrative Rules were adopted in 2002.

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 Early identification is important because:

• Hearing loss is the most frequently occurring birth defect.  One to three of every 1000 newborns have a permanent hearing loss. 
• The average age of identification of a hearing loss in the absence of newborn hearing screening is 2-3 years of age. 
• Research has shown that infants who are identified with a hearing loss early and receive appropriate intervention services before six months of age have better language, speech and social skills than children whose hearing loss is identified later.  Many progress at a rate comparable to those with normal hearing.