Children learn many thing s via interaction with their environment. They use their senses to gain input from the environment mostly while playing. One of the senses, which are crucial for a child’s development is hearing.
Nowadays , it is common procedure for hospital and hearing care centre to do Newborn Hearing Screening, thus, giving an early idea of a newborn hearing status .
Parents and caretakers are advised to to monitor a child development according to the guidelines available,such as Paediatric Protocols for Malaysian Hospitals, 3rd Edition. Below are the excerpts of the guideline ;-
Despite undivided attention to the needs and care of children, there might be some
situations where hearing loss in children might go unnoticed by the parents:
1.
Unilateral hearing loss:
Only one ear is having
hearing problem and the other ear is normal hearing. A child will have have
normal speech and language skills however there might trouble with sound localization.
2.
Mild hearing loss :
Mild hearing loss is in
between 25 to 40 dBHL either in one or both ears. The hearing might be adequate
for communication but there are
difficulties with soft sounds or
understanding speech when in noisy environment .
3.
Progressive or gradual hearing
loss :
Although a child passed hearing screening
during infancy (Newborn Hearing Screening) , there are cases of hearing loss
that starts and gets progressively worse after infantile stage.
4.
Partial hearing
loss:
Usually this concerns high frequency loss where
speech clarity is diminished while the loudness of speech is still normal. “ I can hear people talking, i just
cant understand them .”
Seek a hearing
professional if you are suspicious about a childs hearing status. Parents’ instinct and suspicion should NEVER be taken lightly as a reason for
an assessment as they are more aware of their child ‘s progress and
development. Hearing impairment will lead to issues in a child’s social development
and may lead to further psychosocial problems as they grow up.
Early assesment leads to early intervention and early intervention may lead to better outcome.
Written by,
Faiz Salleh
Eartistic Hearing and Balance Centre, Audiologist at Kota Bharu
References:
Lang-Roth R (2014) , Hearing impairment and language delay in infants: Diagnostics and genetics , GMS Curr Top Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg.
J H hedges et al (2013) , Play, attention, and learning: How do play and timing shape the development of attention and influence classroom learning? Ann N Y Acad Sci.
References:
Lang-Roth R (2014) , Hearing impairment and language delay in infants: Diagnostics and genetics , GMS Curr Top Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg.
J H hedges et al (2013) , Play, attention, and learning: How do play and timing shape the development of attention and influence classroom learning? Ann N Y Acad Sci.
S C P M theunissen et al (2015),
Symptoms of Psychopathology in
Hearing-Impaired Children , Ear Hear.
A M
Korver et al ( 2010) , Newborn hearing screening vs later hearing
screening and developmental outcomes in children with permanent childhood
hearing impairment., JAMA.Paediatric Protocols for Malaysian Hospitals , 3rd Edition.
