Your Child's Hearing

Why is Hearing Important?

It is important for children to be able to accurately hear and understand what is said. For example:

We learn to speak based on what we hear. If a child has trouble hearing, speech and language skills may be more difficult to develop.

We communicate and develop friendships by speaking and listening. Hearing impairment can lead to social isolation and poor self-esteem.

Academic achievement, particularly the areas of reading and math, can be impacted by any level of hearing loss. Hearing loss can prevent a child from hearing parts of the instruction. Mild hearing loss is often harder to detect because there may not be a negative impact in all environments.

Hearing can also be important for a person’s safety and knowledge of his or her surroundings. Sirens and other auditory signals are often used to alter us of danger.

What are the Types of Hearing Loss? 

Conductive –results from a problem with the outer or middle ear.  This type of hearing loss can be permanent (malformed middle ear bones) or temporary (fluid in the middle ear). Medical treatment can often help with this type of hearing loss.cause hearing loss. The types of hearing loss can include:

Sensorineural –is caused by a problem within the cochlea’s hair cells. This is often a permanent type of hearing loss (such as noise induced hearing loss).

Mixed –occurs when there is both a conductive loss and a sensorineural loss.

Middle Ear Fluid

Sometimes children develop fluid in the middle ear space.  If the fluid persists, it can lead to an ear infection. Depending on the thickness of fluid it can cause hearing problems, even if an ear infection is not present, by blocking the sound from getting to the inner ear.  If your child is prone to allergies or ear infections, he/she may have fluctuating hearing abilities.

Why Does Hearing Loss Matter?

Presence of hearing loss can be difficult for a child to develop certain auditory-related skills. Hearing is critical to speech and language development, communication, and learning. The earlier hearing loss occurs in a child's life, the more serious the effects on the child's development. The earlier the problem is identified, the earlier intervention can begin.  Hearing loss can impact several areas of speech and language development, for example: 

Vocabulary

Vocabulary develops more slowly in children who have hearing loss.

Children with hearing loss often learn concrete words like cat, jump, five, and red more easily than abstract words like before, after, equal to, and jealous. They may also have difficulty with function words like “the,  an,  are, &  a.”

Sentence Structure

Children with hearing loss often cannot hear word endings such as -s or -ed. This leads to misunderstandings and misuse of verb tense and pluralization (i.e. if talking about a single object or more than one).

Speaking (Articulation)

Children with hearing loss often cannot hear quiet speech sounds such as "s, sh, f, t, & k" so they may not include them in their speech. Thus, speech may be difficult to understand.

Children with hearing loss may not hear their own voices when they speak. They may speak too loudly or not loud enough, or the speech may sound distorted. 

What Can You Do?

Watch for signs of hearing loss. If your child has a history of ear infections, hearing abilities may fluctuate. If you have trouble getting your child’s attention, or you notice inconsistency in your child’s responses, it could be due to hearing problems.

Also remember to protect your child’s hearing during noisy activities.  Damage from noise-induced hearing loss is related to the amount of time spent around noise, distance from the noise source, and the loudness of the noise.  Consider the following:

Use hearing protection.  Ear plugs and ear muffs are excellent ways to protect hearing. Earplugs are small and easy to carry. Be sure to read the directions to get the best fit. Ear muffs are larger, but they are quick and easy for younger children to use. Remember that wearing your own hearing protection will set a good example for your child.

Turn down the volume and take listening breaks.  Concerts, personal music players and gaming systems, while a great source for entertainment, can also be loud enough to cause permanent damage to the ears. 

Recognize the danger. If you have to shout for someone to hear you over the noise, it is probably loud enough to damage hearing. Sources can include live music, planes, sporting events, lawn mowers, tractors, firearms, and motor sports