Celebrating North Florida’s Doctors
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May is Listen Up!
By: Holly Bishop
May is Better Hearing and Speech Month, so we wanted to hear first-hand information from the source on hearing and speech development; pediatric. We opted with Christine Cook, M.S., CCC-A, a pediatric audiologist at Nemours Children’s Clinic in Downtown Jacksonville.
Starting at birth, newborns are put through a hearing test, Otoacoustic Emmissions (OAEs). This process involves placing a plug in the ear and sending vibrations and sound into the ear and recording responses sent back. Christine Cook, M.S., CCC-A says, “We are identifying hearing loss immediately. If there is chance of loss, the state requires they return for a repeat screening at one month of age, and by three months they have the diagnostics test, ABR. If they are diagnosed with hearing loss, they should be fit with a hearing aid by six months of age.”
If the child is a preemie or spends any time in the NICU, the state requires an ABR, which is a brain stem response test. These children are required to continue follow up testing every six months until three years of age. “Even if the infant passes the newborn test now, in six months we want to make sure it still looks okay,” says Cook.
Christine Cook gives a few warning signs and offers steps to take if you think your child might have hearing loss as well as possible treatment options available.
Warning Signs:
• Doesn’t respond to loud noises
• Doesn’t track you when you move (when the child has more head and neck mobility)
• If speech and language development is not progressing on schedule
• If the child does not have a fairly expressive vocabulary by 18 months of age
Steps to Take:
• Talk to your pediatrician about your concerns. They can conduct initial screening tests at their office.
• Your pediatrician would then refer your child to a pediatric ENT (Ear Nose and Throat doctor) for further testing.
• Your ENT would contact an audiologist for other non-invasive testing if necessary.
• If the behavioral testing with headphones, OAEs or sound booths are unsuccessful, the next step would be the ABR brain stem response testing which requires sedation.
Possible treatment options:
• Conductive Loss: when the child has excessive fluid or wax build up. This is generally treated with tube insertion surgery and draining of the fluid.
• Sensory Loss: If the structure of the middle ear space is not correctly formed or if bones are fused together. This is initially treated with a hearing aid.
• Nerve Loss: First this type of loss is treated with a hearing aid and if that is unsuccessful, the patient is then referred to the cochlear implant team for an evaluation of possible implantation. Cochlear implants are reserved for those patients with the most severe forms of hearing loss.
“We fit them with hearing aids and at the same time they are also enrolled in the speech therapy program. We work hand-in-hand with speech therapy. We fit the hearing aids a certain way, and they see how the patients are progressing through speech. Then the speech therapists let us know what they are seeing or not seeing so we can adjust the hearing aids,” says Cook.
If you are concerned that your child may need to see a doctor regarding his/her hearing or speech development contact your pediatrician immediately.
For additional information, visit KidsHealth.Org. KidsHealth.org is in connection with Nemours and articles are written primarily by their own physicians.
Posted in: Business // 1 Comment
10 Business Busters & Career Killers
By: Daniel C. Steenerson, CLU, ChFC, RHU
10: Set ‘em and forget ‘em goals. Successful people treat goals as “do or die.”
9: Complex communication. You can’t persuade people who don’t understand. Keep it super simple.
8: One-shot-wonder effort. If it’s worth trying once, it’s worth following up and persevering. Most achievements occur after several rounds of follow up.
7: Treating others how YOU want to be treated. Instead, deploy Tony Alessandra’s Platinum Rule: Treat others how THEY want to be treated.
6: Trying to make brilliant decisions instead of facing the hard decisions. Don’t procrastinate. If you make hard decisions now, it will lead to brilliant results later.
5: Quitting during the middle mile. You can’t always see the finish line, but you must have faith that it’s just around the bend.
4: Big idea immobilization. Lots of people have great ideas. Successful people know how to implement with simple, no-fail systems.
3: Fatal distractions. Focus time and budget into activities that lead to money. No, that probably does not include redecorating your office.
2: Disappearing discipline. Successful people have the discipline to do the things that others don’t want to do. (AKA: getting up early, making cold calls, creating systems for accountability.)
1: Forgetting about what’s important to others. Whether you’re building a new business relationship, applying for a job or writing a marketing message, never forget that “what’s in it for them” is what matters.
Foremost disability insurance field authority Daniel C. Steenerson, CLU, ChFC, RHU, is the founder and principal of San Diego-based Disability Insurance Services—the nation’s leading disability brokerage agency that’s earned the distinction as the largest wholesale distributor of disability insurance products in the United States. He may be reached online at www.DanSteenerson.com.
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Stroke Awareness Month 
By Holly Bishop
Stroke is the leading cause of disability in America, according to the “American Heart Association and American Stroke Association”:http://www.strokeassociation.org and the number four cause of death. About 795,000 Americans endure a new or recurrent stroke each year; but 80% of strokes are preventable. Many strokes can be prevented by simply eating healthy, exercising and checking your blood pressure regularly.
May is National Stroke Awareness month so here you will find a few key signs and symptoms to look for in someone having a stroke and ultimately when to call 9-1-1.
According to the American Heart Association, more than one third of stoke patients do not make it to the hospital by the fastest method-ambulance; and Ethnic minorities and rural residents were less likely to call 9-1-1 at the beginning stages of a stroke. “A number of factors can fuel the reluctance to call 9-1-1,” said James Ekundayo, M.D., Dr.P.H., assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn. “People may not recognize symptoms and may delay seeking medical care of call their doctor instead. We hear people say they just didn’t want to be a bother, but many times there could have been a better outcome if EMS had been called.”
The American Heart Association/American Stoke Association’s Together To End Stroke that highlights the acronym F.A.S.T. to help people recognize the signs of a stroke.
Face Drooping- Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile.
Arm Weakness- Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
Speech Difficulty- Is speech slurred, are they unable to speak, or are they hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, like “The sky is blue.” Is the sentence repeated correctly?
Time to call 9-1-1- If the person shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 9-1-1 and get them to a hospital immediately.
It is important to boost public awareness on stoke prevention and symptoms. Through education, we can improve the outcomes for stroke victims and save a life.
To learn more about strokes and stoke prevention please visit The American Stroke Association
