Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 1138, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to require:

DOH, the Hawaii Center for the Deaf and Blind, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Hawaii Early Intervention Coordinating Council, Disability and Communications Access Board, and a concerned physician testified in support of this measure.

Your Committee recognizes that hearing loss is one of the most common congenital birth defects. Moreover, it has been found that infants who are deaf or hard-of-hearing who receive intervention before the age of six months maintain language development commensurate with their cognitive abilities through five years of age.

Furthermore, your Committee finds that early detection of hearing loss is beneficial not only to the infant, but also to the family. Many parents and family members have emotional responses to a deaf or hard-of-hearing child, which may affect bonding with the infant and require help working through these responses. Early intervention will help make this transition easier and assist families in dealing with this situation.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1138, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.