Rubella: Audiologic Evaluation and Follow-Up

This report deals with a very specific source of communication trouble, prenatal (maternal, congenital) rubella. It is clear that there is a wide gamut of the kinds, the severity, and the combinations of problems manifested by “rubella” children. Hearing impairment and mental retardation are the two most common abnormalities, and even the first of these is by no means necessarily stable. Each child with a background of prenatal rubella needs a thorough, sophisticated diagnostic appraisal and, just as important, repeated evaluations over time. Many may require a carefully “tailored” educational program, closely coordinated with audiologic follow-up, even in a special educational setting. Perhaps the most critical ingredient is parental insight and the ability to help expand language in the minute-by-minute situations of daily living.