Teaching & Learning

Utah State Professor Honored for Work with Newborn Hearing

The American Speech Language and Hearing Association recently awarded Utah State University professor Karl White with its prestigious distinguished service award for his long-time work on the screening of infants for hearing loss.
           
As director of the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Measurement at USU, White has been responsible for many contributions to the ASHA and to the public. The award recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the field of speech-language pathology and audiology.
           
White's work has resulted in earlier identification of children with hearing loss in all states, along with 29 countries throughout the world. More than 95 percent of the nation’s newborns now receive newborn hearing screening. He has also been instrumental in seeing that 39 states and territories have passed newborn hearing screening legislation.
 
"His contributions are immense," said ASHA Fellow Jean Johnson. “With these advancements, the average age for the identification of hearing loss in infants and young children dropped from two-and-one-half years in 1988 to three months in 2004.”
 
Early identification of hearing loss in infants allows for earlier intervention with hearing aids and cochlear implants. This enables infants with hearing loss to achieve age-appropriate communication skills.
White began teaching at USU in 1978. In 1990, he became the founding director of the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Measurement.
 
White has given presentations to various legislators and organizations throughout his career urging federal and statewide acceptance and implementation of screening programs.
           
For more information about the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Measurement visit their Website

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