Hearing Screens and Hearing Evaluations
Hearing Screens and Evaluations
Each center at First Step, Inc. has the ability to screen or evaluate the hearing of individuals, whose ages are between birth and adulthood. We have contracted with an audiologist for her services for the past 15 years. Through the use of an audiometer and a tympanometer we are able to screen pure-tone air conduction hearing and determine the possibility of a referral to the primary care physician for middle ear problems. Utilizing the audiometers during this time speech pathologists and our audiologist have screened our consumers and referred them for further evaluation by our audiologist, observation by their primary care physician (PCP) or ear, nose and throat physicians (ENT). A part of that screening process is an observation of the middle ear and the movement of the eardrum (tympanic membrane). Tympanometry is helpful in diagnosing otitis media (ear infections, middle ear fluid) and distinguishing a sensorineural and a conductive hearing loss.
Some years after our audiologist came to First Step we ordered a sound proof booth to be able to evaluate more thoroughly the hearing of our consumers. We have VRA (visual reinforcement audiometry) capability which is used for screening the hearing of children who are 6 months through 2 years of age. The children are trained to look at the sound source. The children will receive a visual reinforcement for the correct acknowledgement of the sound source.
The most recent purchase for First Step has been an OAE (otoacoustic emissions) for each center which enables audiology assistants , audiologists, speech pathologists and nurses to screen every consumer who enrolls at First Step. The audiologist trains each of these staff members on how to operate this equipment. Otoacoustic emissions screens the hearing to the cochlea hair cells and the consumer does not have to make a physiological response. This screener is able to determine outer ear canal blockage, and the presence of middle ear fluid and possible damage to the outer hair cells in the cochlea. This equipment was utilized while First Step was working with two local hospitals, National Park Medical Hospital and Hot Spring County Medical Hospital, during the pilot project of the Newborn Hearing Screening in Arkansas. Our speech pathologists , audiologist and audiology assistant provided round the clock hearing screens to all of the newborns in those hospitals giving us a wonderful rapport with the staffs of those facilities which ensured better services for their consumers. When an infant failed the hearing screen at the hospital then they were usually referred through their pediatrician to First Step for further evaluation and treatment.
Through First Step’s commitment to providing quality care in the area of hearing and organizations such as the Hot Springs Community Foundation we have been able to purchase the equipment needed to provide such services. First Step has taken the lead in providing superior care for hearing issues in the communities we serve.
HELP! Funding for Our Kids in Danger!
Are you aware that service such as the day programs, residential programs, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, early intervention, and home and community based waiver services for Arkansans with Developmental Disabilities are in danger of being cut in the federal budget fight? Congress is considering large cuts to Medicaid which funds these services.
70,277 full-time jobs in Arkansas are attributable to the Medicaid program, which is equal to 6% of all employment in the state.
Medicaid provides health insurance to 26 percent of Arkansans (750,000 people) with an annual budget of $3.14 billion.
Medicaid is a vital safety net for 120,200 children and adults with disabilities, such as Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, intellectual disabilities, and autism.
Medicaid is an important economic driver in Arkansas – approximately $5.9 billion is generated as a result of direct Medicaid (state and federal) spending of $3.7 billion in Arkansas.
Every federal Medicaid dollar that flows into a state stimulates business activity and generates jobs. In Arkansas, every federal dollar spent on Medicaid has an economic impact of $6.31.
So, the loss of the “economic multiplier effect” that states would experience as a direct result of federal Medicaid cuts would be large and much greater than the amount of the dollar cuts themselves.
For every 5% (12% is being proposed) that is cut from the Medicaid budget, it means about $242 million in lost economic activity for Arkansas and a loss of 2,400 jobs.
Please send an email or make a call to the President (White House), our Senators, and our Congressmen. At this minute, negotiations in Washington are threatening 46 years of success and positive change in the lives of Individuals with Disabilities – and their families! We have provided the contact information below for you convenience. Tell your elected officials to lobby The White House and Congress for protection for our intellectually disabled! Community Services for these individuals are the least expensive systems and morally the right thing to do.
Ask for their help in supporting the most vulnerable members in our society. Explain that community funded Medicaid stops costly institutionalization, puts consumers with disabilities and their families into jobs, and protects community in each town in America.
We are counting on each of you. Send a link to this page to your friends and family. Put it on your Face Book page. Washington MUST hear your voice!!!
Sincerely,
Pam Bland, Executive Director
First Step, Inc.
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CONTACT THESE ELECTED OFFICIALS
President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
E-Mail: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
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U.S. Senator John Boozman
320 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4843
E-Mail: http://boozman.senate.gov
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U.S. Senator Mark Pryor
255 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2353
E-Mail: http://pryor.senate.gov
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U.S. Representative Rick Crawford – 1st District, North Central & Northeast Arkansas
1408 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4076 Fax: (202) 225-5602
E-Mail: http://crawford.house.gov/
(Counties: Baxter, Fulton, Sharp, Randolph, Clay, Izard, Lawrence, Greene, Searcy, Stone, Francis, Lee, Phillips, Monroe, Arkansas, Prairie, Crittenden, and Lonoke)
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U.S. Representative Tim Griffin – 2nd District, Central Arkanas
1232 Longworh HOB
Washington DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2506 Fax: (202) 225-5903
E-Mail: http://griffin.house.gov/
(Counties: Conway, Faulkner, Perry, Pulaski, Saline, Van Buren, White, and Yell)
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U.S. Representative Steve Womack – 3rd District, NW Arkansas
1508 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4301 Fax: (202) 225-5713
E-Mail: https://womack.house.gov/Contact/
(Counties: Benton, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Pope, Sebastian, Washington, and Newton)
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U.S. Representative Mike Ross – 4th District, South Arkansas
2436 Rayburn House Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (800) 223-2220 Fax: (202) 225-1314
E-Mail: http://mike.ross@mail.house.gov
(Counties: Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Chicot, Columbia, Dallas, Desha, Drew, Garland, Grant, Hempstead, Hot Spring, Howard, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lincoln, Little River, Logan, Miller, Montgomery, Nevada, Ouachita, Pike, Polk, Scott, Sevier, Union)
Help Keep Medicaid Benefits For Our Kids
Congress vs. Medicaid: Make Your Case
From a Parent
| Tell Congress How Medicaid Values People | |
| The MVP 20,000 Challenge: ANCOR Members to Send 20,000 Contacts to Capitol Hill by December 23 | |
| The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (a.k.a. the “Super Committee”) has been charged with cutting $1.2 to $1.5 trillion from the deficit over 10 years and must propose specific federal spending cuts by November 23. Entitlements, especially Medicaid, and other disability discretionary spending are marked with targets for the Super Committee to slash. (about the committee) Following the November 23 proposal, Congress must take a vote by December 23 on whether to implement the Super Committee’s recommendations.
To win this battle, we must show that Medicaid is not just a number on a ledger to be slashed, but is an essential part of the lives of people in every community across America. We must challenge our elected leaders to respond not to the “prize” of billions cut from a budget, but to the human stories we know all too well. This is the time for each of us to reach out to our networks—providers, individuals with disabilities, Direct Support Professionals, families, donors and other allies—and enlist their support in making the case that Medicaid Values People (MVP). How? Personalize a letter to your member of Congress. ANCOR is challenging its members, Direct Support Professionals, and individuals with disabilities and their families to send 20,000 messages to Congress by December 23. This is your first opportunity to makes steps toward that goal. Use the letter below to talk about Medicaid. Personalize and be specific! Members of Congress have asked that ANCOR members talk about what cuts would mean to individuals with disabilities access to services and the job loss that would befall your community. Send the message that Medicaid is a lifeline for millions of individuals with disabilities, and cuts would result in less jobs and spending right in your state and Congressional district. Make sure the country knows how close to home Medicaid is. Our Message Medicaid funds make possible vital, life-transforming supports and services to people with disabilities. Cutting these funds will have devastating effects on individuals with disabilities, their families and their local economies. |
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Olivia Pilgrim will graduate First Step’s Preschool program and enter public kindergarten in the fall of this year. She is active and happy and is anxious to start school. However, the first five years of her life have been a real challenge.
Olivia was born with a heart defect and had her first open-heart surgery when she was one week old. She was also born with DiGeorge Syndrome, a rare congenital disease that affects an infant’s immune system. She has no thyroid or parathyroid glands. In addition, she has scoliosis.
At 18 months, Olivia was still not walking. We took an aggressive approach to her treatment and upon our pediatrician’s referral placed her in the First Step program. In addition to being a part of First Step’s Preschool program, Olivia has received physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy at First Step. Olivia underwent her second open-heart surgery at three years of age and because of the scoliosis has to have a surgical procedure on her back every six months.
Olivia was a full-term baby and weighed 7lbs-11 oz. at birth. We did not expect any problems, and it was a shock when, just after birth, she had to be put on oxygen. Within hours she was med-flighted to Arkansas Children’s Hospital. We didn’t know what to do.
Medicaid has seen us through the last five years. We don’t know what we would have done without it. Today, Olivia still has some delays, but she is so much farther along than we ever thought she would be. Please contact our President, Senators, and Representatives and ask them not to make cuts in the Medicaid program. There are other children out there just like Olivia, and I hate to think where they would be without the help of Medicaid.
— Amber Pilgrim, Olivia’s mother
