Impairment of hearing in children should be diagnosed during the preschool years. Such early recognition offers the best possible results in those cases requiring medical or surgical treatment. In children suffering from permanent severe deafness it is of utmost importance to start special training several years before the avg. school age. Such early recognition of hearing loss becomes the problem of the pediatrician and/or the children''s clinics rather than that of the otological specialist or the Department of Education.