PUBLIC LAW 106-113—APPENDIX D 113 STAT. 1501A-277 consumer, self-help, parent, and education organizations, and other family-centered services. (3) MEDICAL EVALUATION.— Medical evaluation by a physician consists of key components including history, examination, and medical decision making focused on symptomatic and related body systems for the purpose of diagnosing the etiology of hearing loss and related physical conditions, and for identifying appropriate treatment and referral options. (4) MEDICAL INTERVENTION.— Medical intervention is the process by which a physician provides medical diagnosis and direction for medical and/or surgical treatment options of hearing loss and/or related medical disorder associated with hearing loss. (5) AUDIOLOGIC REHABILITATION. —Audiologic rehabilitation (intervention) consists of procedures, techniques, and technologies to facilitate the receptive and expressive communication abilities of a child with hearing loss. (6) EARLY INTERVENTION.— Early intervention (e.g., nonmedical) means providing appropriate services for the child with hearing loss and ensuring that families of the child are provided comprehensive, consumer-oriented information about the full range of family support, training, information services, communication options and are given the opportunity to consider the full range of educational and program placements and options for their child. (b) PURPOSES. —The purposes of this section are to clarify the authority within the Public Health Service Act to authorize statewide newborn and infant hearing screening, evaluation and intervention programs and systems, technical assistance, a national applied research program, and interagency and private sector collaboration for policy development, in order to assist the States in making progress toward the following goals: (1) All babies born in hospitals in the United States and its territories should have a hearing screaming before leaving the birthing facility. Babies born in other countries and residing in the United States via immigration or adoption should have a hearing screening as early as possible. (2) All babies who are not born in hospitals in the United States and its territories should have a hearing screening within the first 3 months of life. (3) Appropriate audiologic and medical evaluations should be conducted by 3 months for all newborns and infants suspected of having hearing loss to allow appropriate referral and provisions for audiologic rehabilitation, medical and early intervention before the age of 6 months. (4) All newborn and infant hearing screening programs and systems should include a component for audiologic rehabilitation, medical and early intervention options that ensures linkage to any new and existing statewide systems of intervention and rehabilitative services for newborns and infants with hearing loss. (5) Public policy in regard to newborn and infant hearing screening and intervention should be based on applied research and the recognition that newborns, infants, toddlers, and children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing have unique language, learning, and communication needs, and should be the result of consultation with pertinent public and private sectors.
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