1 in 800 children in the world has down syndrome.
80% of children with Down Syndrome suffers from hearing
impairment. It can be caused by middle ear (conductive loss) or inner ear
issues (sensorineural hearing loss). A
lot of precautions needed to be aware about when it comes to preparing a child
with Down Syndrome as early intervention
is the key.
As a pregnant woman i am right now, i too am very anxious
when it comes to what to expect of the little one that i am carrying. But being
an audiologist, i have been exposed to the importance of early intervention
hence i have the courage to visit the sonographer and since i am an eager fan of
prenatal screening. Nowadays, preparation for mothers to be are amazing and you
can know as early as 10 weeks of pregnancy if you are carrying a child with down syndrome. It is imperative that us parents to check our little ones if they need early intervention or extra early care in
advance.
As statistics and studies has further agreed that children
with down syndrome also will go through a degree of mental retardation from
mild to severe which further enhances the fact that these children needs early
intervention.
When they are born, precautions on how they are fed is
important to avoid middle ear issues such as their middle ear tube ie:
eustachian tube can be dysfuntional easily as they have a flatter tubing
compared to us adults due to exposure to adult smoking or feeding milk while
they are laid flat etc.
Our test battery to assists parents in understanding their
childs status of hearing would be :
1- Hearing screening
- Otoscopic Examination
- Tympanometry
- Automated Auditory Brainstem Response (AABR) with inserts
(to avoid collapsed ear canal)
- Otoacoustic Emissions (OAE)
Then, if found to have hearing impairment, further
diagnostic assessment will be done.
2- Diagnostic Hearing Assessment
- Otoscopic Examination
- Tympanometry
- Diagnostic Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) with
inserts (to avoid collapsed ear canal)
- oacoustic Emissions (OAE)
At birth, you can see their beautiful features :
- flat facial features
- small head and ears
- short neck
- bulging tongue
- eyes that slant upward
- atypically shaped ears
- poor muscle tone
Having said that, so many successful real life stories of these individuals i have encountered. My
own daughter had an assistant kindergarten teacher with down syndrome, cousins
and friends who are attending school because they had an amazing exposure and
early intervention when they had the window of opportunity (0-5yo) for early
intervention.
In Malaysia, we have Kiwanis and Persatuan Sindrom Down to name a few to
support parents and children with Down
Syndrome. The support available is just incredible and as i have said
before, children with down syndrome can have a bright bright future with early
intervention.
Before i end this piece, here is an amazing story about this
"Johns Crazy Socks". John’s Crazy Socks is a father-son
venture inspired by John Lee Cronin, a young man with Down syndrome, and his
love of colorful and fun socks, or what he calls his “crazy socks.” Crazy or
not, to me its amazing and i wish for more successful stories from our
community in Malaysia.
The world is our oyster, if we know our strength..
As a parent, " their world is their oyster, as long as we know in advance their strength".
To parents out there, family, friends with down syndrom children, may
the force be with you and do share with us your success stories so more parents
in our community are empowered!
Love,
Dr Shasa Aziz
CEO and Founder of Eartistic Sdn Bhd
References:
http://www.puravidasanantonio.com/kids-chiropractor/childhood-ear-infections/
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42353259
https://www.healthline.com/health/down-syndrome#symptoms
Catch our promotion this month.
Free Hearing Assessment for anyone Down Syndrome from the 26th -31st of March 2016.
Call us to book your appointment within this week or book an appt on our website.
Catch our promotion this month.
Free Hearing Assessment for anyone Down Syndrome from the 26th -31st of March 2016.
Call us to book your appointment within this week or book an appt on our website.
