The most important period for language and speech development is generally regarded as the first 3 years of life. It is important that hearing impairment be recognized as early in life as possible, so that the child can enjoy normal social development.

The primary justification for early identification of hearing impairment in infants relates to the impact of hearing impairment on speech and language acquisition, academic achievement, and social/emotional development.  If a child is hard of hearing or deaf at birth or experiences hearing loss in infancy or early childhood, it is likely that child will not receive adequate auditory, linguistic, and social stimulation requisite to speech and language learning, social and emotional development, and that family functioning will suffer. The goal of early identification and intervention is to minimize or prevent these adverse effects.