Benefits

For the individual participant, the potential benefits to be gained from participating arise from the fact that his/her development will be monitored closely over the first five years of life; this information, along with any tapings or additional individual results from the sessions can be provided upon parental request. But the real benefit will be reaped by children diagnosed with hearing loss in the future.

For society as a whole, the benefits to be gained from this study are that we will better understand what kinds of intervention facilitate the development of young children with hearing loss. This is important because new methods in diagnosis of hearing loss are allowing us to identify children with hearing loss at much younger ages than previously possible and therefore allowing us to begin intervention at earlier ages as well. We need to be sure that the intervention we provide is the best for them and will yield the most beneficial results.