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mummwrteskifm ttmsiamwmmsmik economist sunsuntribune health saturday sept 13 2003 17 concentrate on identifying child hearing loss by usa queen staff writer after being delayed by sars last spring a regional screening program designed to identify hearing loss in babies is set to launch monday at markham stouffville hospital the program which will serve the regions of york durham haliburton kawartha and pine ridge is aimed at detecting infants born deaf or hard of hearing to give them the head start they need babies with hearing difficulties develop complex coping strategies to help them function in a world of sound for example they learn to respond to visual cues or feel someone approaching through vibrations in the floor or a breeze but those mechanisms mask their disabilities on average children are two years old before any sort of hearing loss is detected but the hearing screening program operated by the york region preschool speech and language program will ensure hearing loss is identified soon afterbirthr the painfree nocost test is admin istered wme babies are sleeping a technician or nurse uses a hand held machine that emits a clicking sound and measures the echo in the infants ear the test takes about a minute for both ears it can be administered before babies are sent home at markham stouffville hospital southlake regional health centre or york central hospital there are also clinics where the test can be offered l the program which is being imple mented across the province allows parents to choose treatments for their children early in life for example babies can be fitted for hearing aids as early as four months begin treatment programs at the age of six months or have cochlear implants at 12 months about 7500 babies are expected to be tested in york region every year with about eight to 10 infants identified with profound hearing loss another 24 to 30 will have some sort of hearing impairment babies with hearing difficulties will be referred to audiologists all parents will receive information detailing hearing milestones for their children as they grow up new moms and dads will also be reminded that children can develops hearing loss through injury or ear infections v for more information call 9054727007 ann v e r s a r y br a t i o n the queen s pantry invites you to join us for pur 2 day event featuring instore demonstrations and promotions at the queensbridge mill c a tt tt d a v qu pt 1 5 dai ujxizii dll l 13 1000 500 em sunday sept 14 1200 500 em 4166 19th avenue markham 905 887ii27 north side bbtvveen warden and kennedy for more information call the queens pantry 176 main street unionville 9054 774625 wvywqueensbridgecom v- r h civc bp wrrf ivwsst br s bss ibliilllli w jkhwhmfhl the launch of 211 civc 211 community information and a w br volunteer centre york lleuion civc veleo sunday september 21 sty 2003 pine farms orchard west 3 1 051 6th sideroad king city 1 0 am 3 pm official ceremonies at 1 2 noon oodles of s 4vtive family spend a gjorious autumn day in an orchard pick apples and donate some of them to the york region food network ups eyes nails face makeup september 17 th 5 th 225 sparks ave toronto on visa cash steeles ave m sparks ave mcnicollave finch ave hwy401 o co 4 hours mon fri 1000am800pm sat 1000am 600pm sun 1100am 500pm note merchandise available while quantities last we reserve the right to limit quanitites vffl ii if ii if f ii 1 111 1 tl i ii vl a j s i 1 i- ii i iii i l i mm