Thanks to a sizeable grant, a central Iowa non-profit is helping the state’s families connect with more testing and resources if their newborn infants fail initial screenings for hearing.
Molly Gosselink, with Every Step, says they plan to hire navigators to help connect families to resources available through the state or the University of Iowa.
She says many families face barriers to access more specialized tests.
Gosselink says, “Families who are not native English speakers or don’t have the ability to just hop in the car and drive down, or schedule their own appointments.”
Every Step received a grant of nearly a half million dollars from the Oberkotter Foundation, which supports work with deaf and hard of hearing children.
Gosselink says it’s important that hearing loss in young children is identified as soon as possible.
“They are at risk for a variety of developmental delays,” she says, “if they do have some type of a hearing need or hearing loss, and that’s not identified early on.”
Gosselink says the plan is to start in central Iowa and eventually expand the program statewide.
(By Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)