YOUR CHILD’S HEARING LOSS

A hearing screening provides pass / refer information on your child’s ability to hear sounds at a certain softness level at specific pitches.

If your child is referred for a hearing screening, you should see an audiologist for a comprehensive audiological assessment of your child’s hearing and middle ear function. An audiologist evaluating a child typically uses certain basic procedures to determine the type and degree of the loss. These procedures may include a pure tone hearing test, speech audiometry, and tests of middle ear function. Depending on the age and / or the child’s ability to reliably respond, hearing sensitivity may be determined using tests that do not require the active participation of your child (e.g., auditory evoked potentials, otoacoustic emissions). Based on the results of an audiological assessment, the audiologist will provide information regarding the impact your child’s type and degree of hearing loss may have on communication. An audiologist will also provide you with recommendations for intervention and appropriate referrals (e.g., speech-language pathology, medical).

Communication development and behavioral skills are influenced by a child’s ability to hear. Hearing loss can also effect a child’s social interaction, emotional development, and academic performance.

Hearing loss may be bilateral (both ears) or unilateral (one ear). Hearing loss may be fluctuating, permanent, or temporary.

Children can exhibit:

• Varying degrees of difficulty hearing and understanding environmental and speech sounds
• Significant problems listening and understanding in noisy and reverberant environments

Communication Implications

Children typically exhibit delays and / or difficulty with:

• Tasks involving language concepts
• Auditory attention, memory, and comprehension
• Receptive and expressive language
• Syntax, semantics, and vocabulary development
• Speech perception and production

Academic Implications

Children may have:

• Problems in academic achievement, including language arts, vocabulary
• Development, reading, spelling, arithmetic, and problem-solving
• Lower scores on achievement and verbal IQ tests
• Greater need for enrollment in special education or support classes
• Increased need for organization support in the classroom

Social Implications

Children may:

• Have self-described feelings of isolation, exclusion, embarrassment, annoyance, confusion, and helplessness
• Refuse to participate in group activities
• Act withdrawn or sullen
• Exhibit lower performance on measures of social maturity
• Have significant problems following directions

Implementing an appropriate intervention program

Intervention should be conducted by qualified professionals and designed to meet the individual and unique needs of children with hearing loss and their families / caregivers. Professionals planning and providing services should collaborate with the child, family and / or caregivers, and educators to ensure the success of the intervention program. In general, intervention programs for children with hearing loss should have goals that address the acquisition of spoken and / or manual communication systems, academic skills, and social skills, and promote emotional well-being and positive self-esteem.

Audiologic intervention

Interventions for children with hearing loss include services provided directly by audiologists, provided by other qualified professionals, such as speech-language pathologists, teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing, social workers and / or occupational therapists. The effective use of residual hearing is a primary consideration in intervention because it can affect the child’s success or failure in other areas. The two factors that contribute most to successful use of residual hearing include appropriate amplification and / or assistive technology (hearing aids, cochlear implants, and / or FM systems) and a favorable acoustic environment where noise is eliminated or reduced.