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Wisconsin Sound Beginnings: Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program

Five babies in diapers looking to the right except for the last baby looking the other way.
Wisconsin Sound Beginnings (WSB) is the State’s Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program, ensuring that all babies born in Wisconsin are screened for hearing loss, receive timely diagnosis of hearing loss and receive quality early intervention. WSB strives to ensure Wisconsin meets the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing recommendations for newborn hearing screening and intervention. These goals are known as the 1-3-6 model: babies are screened by 1 month of age; diagnosed by 3 months of age; and receive early intervention services by 6 months of age.

WSB monitors, manages and measures Wisconsin’s hearing screening, loss-to-follow-up, diagnosis and early intervention referral through its web-based data system, WE-TRAC (Wisconsin EHDI-Tracking Referral And Coordination).

Wisconsin Sound Beginnings works to:

  • Ensure All Babies Are Screened or Have Documented Refusal
  • Reduce Loss to Follow-Up (LTFU) for Babies Who Did Not Pass their Newborn Hearing Screening
  • Improve the Time to Diagnosis for Babies Who Need Diagnostic Services
  • Reduce Loss to Follow-Up and Improve Outcomes for Babies Referred to Early Intervention

Wisconsin Sound Beginnings will identify all babies with hearing loss by working as a team to increase the number of Wisconsin infants who are screened and receive timely, individualized follow-up care. We will increase access to hearing-related services by nurturing existing collaborations and forging new ones and providing innovative outreach and nonbiased education to families, healthcare providers and community partners. By advancing early hearing detection and quality interventions, we provide children the opportunity to develop communication skills, cognitive abilities and social-emotional well-being.

All families will have equal access to a seamless system of early and continuous hearing screening, skilled and timely diagnostics and quality interventions to enable children with hearing loss to thrive.

  • We meet families where they’re at without judgment or bias.
  • We drive change and decision-making through the use of sound and valid data collection.
  • We work on behalf of the well-being of children and strive to optimize their potential.
  • We are dedicated to innovative development and sustainable solutions.
  • We respect ourselves, our team, our clients and our community.
  • We forge new and nurture existing creative collaborations and promote partnerships.
  • We value parent perspectives in family support, program design and process improvement.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Seeliger, Wisconsin Sound Beginnings Program Director.

Last revised August 12, 2022