Deaf Awareness Month: Tiny tests, brighter futures
With statistics showing that about 17 children are born with hearing loss, Hold My Hand is hosting a webinar titled: "Little Ears, Big Futures: Newborn Hearing Awareness".
WITH September being International Deaf Awareness Month, Hold My Hand is urging South Africa to rethink what it means to really listen.
According to Dr Noxolo Gqada, strategy lead for the Hold My Hand Accelerator for Children and Teens, in South Africa up to 17 babies are born daily with permanent hearing loss, “that is an estimated 6000 babies who are born with hearing loss each year”.
To create awareness, on Monday, September 29, at 15:00, Hold My Hand in collaboration with Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and Side-By-Side are hosting a webinar titled: “Little Ears, Big Futures: Newborn Hearing Awareness”. This 60-minute Zoom webinar will feature the lived experiences of children with hearing loss and their caregivers, and provide insights from leading health professionals to highlight the importance of early hearing detection and intervention, particularly universal newborn hearing screening.
However, Gqada says most children go undiagnosed at birth, and for many years after missing a critical window for support.
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This results in silence: children who are unable to hear, and/or have difficulty communicating.
Gqada says babies and children are not provided with the support they need to promote cognitive development at a very critical time, and their families are left navigating this life-changing moment alone.
“Our healthcare system fails to provide everyone with early hearing detection and intervention which includes newborn hearing screening and support for both the child and family, as well as an opportunity for children to access assistive devices like hearing aids or cochlear implants, as well as sign and spoken language support.”
This month, the Hold My Hand campaign is shining a spotlight on one of the actions we can take for children with severe or profound hearing loss: universal newborn hearing screening.
“When babies are screened in the first month of life and receive support before they are six months old, they’re far more likely to develop language and connect meaningfully with the world, whether through speech, sign, or both.
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“For a baby, communicating with their caregiver is critical: for bonding and brain power. The game-changer is identifying babies who cannot hear and ensuring caregivers are equipped to communicate appropriately with their baby or to provide their baby the opportunity to hear their voice. However, access to both speech and occupational therapy as well as audiology services, which include hearing technology, remains unequal,” explains Gqada.
She stated that too often, the only children receiving implants are those whose families can navigate the system or pay privately.
“Every child deserves the chance to hear their name, sing a song, or laugh with their friends. We want to give children and families the right to choose with full information provided, early enough to make a real difference.”
What Hold My Hand wants:
– Universal hearing screening within the first month (four weeks) of life, because we can’t act if we don’t detect.
– Fair and timely access to intervention, for all children. This includes access to early intervention and supportive therapy, social support and hearing technology such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, especially for children in the public health system.
– Inclusive intervention services that respect all communication modes such as spoken language, sign language, or both.
– Support for caregivers to understand their child’s hearing status to empower caregivers and enable informed decision-making.
The Zoom meeting will be guided by the draft National Strategy to Accelerate Action for Children (NSAAC) which is led by the Presidency.
Webinar listing:
29 September 2025
15:00 –16:00
Hosted by Dr Noxolo Gqada
Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_mBPgqKHWTyKQJ4Njv6gTSQ
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