Children screened for hearing loss at New Jerusalem SDA Church in Hempstead

A Hempstead church was transformed into a screening clinic on Sunday as babies and children underwent tests to check their hearing.

The event at the New Jerusalem SDA Church is part of an ongoing effort by NYU Langone Health to bring education and screening for hearing loss to underserved and immigrant communities. Sunday was the first of several programs expected to take place on Long Island.

“People don’t often pay attention to hearing loss,” said Moses Mansu, who directs community engagement at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Institute for Excellence in Health. “The dentist, yes. The eye doctor, yes. We want to raise awareness about checking hearing because it has serious implications for the development of the child.”

The institute, along with the school's Department of Otolaryngology, developed the screening project.

Undiagnosed and untreated hearing loss can cause kids to fall behind academically as well as socially, Mansu said.

“Children born in the United States are tested for hearing loss,” Mansu said. “When a family brings a child from abroad, they are not tested for hearing loss but they will go to school. They may be suffering because even if you are hearing partially, you may not be able to tell if you have a problem.”

Stefanie Flower, a pediatric nurse practitioner with NYU Langone Health, pointed out that children listen to how their parents speak and mimic those sounds.

“If they can’t hear that, it can cause a decline and delay in their education,” she said.

Flower said sometimes the problem can be as simple as a buildup of wax. There might also be a buildup of fluid in the ear, which may require the placement of ear tubes.

Other causes include infections, genetics and damage to the auditory nerve.

The project partners with faith-based and community groups to train local people who conduct the screenings. If a child at the Hempstead site fails that screening, they are referred to Dr. Zahrah Taufique, a pediatric otolaryngologist with an office in Mineola, who specializes in ear, nose and throat conditions. Flower, who works with Taufique, was at the screening to help with those referrals.

Patients are connected with free transportation to get them to and from the medical office, Mansu said, in an effort to remove any barrier to their follow-up care.

Taufique also presented an educational seminar at the church about hearing loss on Saturday and took questions from parents and caregivers.

Ivy Burgin of Hempstead took her grandson, Matthew Contreras, 9, to get screened on Sunday.

“I thought it was a good idea to get his hearing tested,” Burgin said. “Sometimes you talk to him and you have to repeat what you say.”

Matthew’s hearing passed the test, which involves placing a small earphone or probe in the ear. The probe then puts a sound into the ear and the machine measures a response inside the ear, Flower explained.

Failing the test does not necessarily indicate hearing loss, just that further evaluation is needed.

Grafton Ifill, first elder at the church, said the church is happy to host public health events to help educate their congregation and others, which include a diverse population of immigrants from the West Indies, South America and India.

"We are here as a lighthouse in this community," he said. “We want to be of service to everybody but especially for those people who don't know that these services are available to them.”

By Lisa L. Colangelo

lisa.colangelo@newsday.com@lisalcolangelo

Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.