Rotary donation will help screen children

COEUR d'ALENE -A donation by the Rotary Club of Coeur d'Alene will help screen hearing of children in Head Start programs at North Idaho College.

A Maico Pilot Speech Recognition Screening Audiometer will be used to check kids ages 3-5.

"By using pictures of everyday items, a child can complete the hearing screening in a matter of minutes," said Beth Ann Fuller, director of North Idaho College Head Start.

A child puts on the ear phones and a voice asks, in different tones, for the child to point to a specific picture, like an ice cream cone or fire truck.

"It is child friendly and the screening results are more accurate," Fuller said.

The audiometer, which costs about $2,000, could not have been purchased without the support of the Rotary Club of Coeur d'Alene, she said.

North Idaho College Head Start provides child development services to more than 300 children and families in North Idaho each school-year.