As the mother of a deaf child, she knows deaf children never "overhear" anything, and therefore need lots of help learning to communicate. Early detection and intervention can make all the difference in their ability to learn how to communicate.

But the number of packs the Whangarei-based president of New Zealand Federation for Deaf Children sends out could grow significantly once a national screening programme to test newborns' hearing gets under way.

Mrs Muller is cautiously pleased by Health Minister Pete Hodgson's announcement last week that an expert advisory group has backed the government's plan to introduce free hearing tests for all newborns.
She says that, while it would of course be good to know deafness was being detected early, it is crucial that adequate "intervention" systems are in place to help families cope with the news their baby is deaf.

And that intervention needs to start straight away, not after six months as can sometimes happen at present, due in part to a shortage of audiologists.

"Another thing about early intervention, it doesn't matter how early you intervene, if the parents aren't committed, the outcome is still not going to be good. It's hard work, there's no easy option."

She and husband Fred Muller noticed very early that Catherine, their fourth child, was not hearing.

Catherine, now aged 20, had her first hearing aid fitted at five months, and a cochlea implant at age 12. She's now studying a Bachelor of Arts in English and linguistics at Auckland University of Technology.

Mr Hodgson said the advisory group, established by the Ministry of Health's National Screening Unit, said congenital hearing loss was a significant health and disability issue, affecting between 135 to 170 newborns each year.

Maori account for 46 percent of all deafness notifications.

Mr Hodgson expects to advise on the next steps that need to be taken in the middle of the year.

By Kathryn Powley
http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3675432