Children and Hearing Loss
Hearing loss can have profound effects on a child reports PurTone Hearing which provides Phoenix Arizona hearing aids. If you can’t hear what people are saying, your speech and language development suffer. But its more than that, kids with hearing problems cant understand what teachers are saying in a classroom, especially if the teacher is facing the chalkboard for instance. The child who does not realize that his hearing is different from the other kids can grow frustrated as he struggles to keep up, while everyone else seems to understand. He may suffer from poor self esteem. There may also be behavioral issues, with a child acting out or withdrawing because of his frustration. Even lunchtime can be a tough challenge for a hearing-impaired child. The child can not hear the conversations going on around them and may withdraw, affecting his socialization as well.
About 15 percent of U.S. children between 6 and 19 have measurable hearing loss in one or both ears. More than a third of kids with hearing problems fail a grade in school. It is one reasons newborn hearing screening is so important at birth. But there’s often little testing for subsequent hearing loss until the child turns 3.
Here’s a list of age related achievements your child should be able to do. If they are not, it could be a warning sign of a hearing problem.
Birth to 3 months
Baby responds to loud sounds, may smile when spoken to, may seem to know mom or dads voice
3-6 months
Baby starts to look up and turn to new sounds; rattles toys; repeats sounds like oooh and aaah; gets scared by loud sounds
6-10 months
Baby may respond to his own name; recognizes words for common things; makes babbling sounds
12-15 months
May start to point to familiar objects if you ask the baby to show you the tree, show you the train, etc; Enjoys peekaboo and pattycake; starts to use single words meaningfully, such as ba for blanket
15-18 months
Can follow simple verbal directions such as “give me the ball” without your using hand gestures; can use 2 or 3 word sentences; knows about 10-20 words
Between 2 years and 2.5 years
Can understand yes/no questions; can understand simple prepositions, such as “on the table” versus “in the cup;” enjoys being read to; can point to body parts
Between 2.5 and 3 years
Starts to understand time such as “we’re going to the zoo tomorrow;” can choose things by size, such as selecting between big and little; can follow simple directions, such as “get your milk” or “meet me in the kitchen;” can understand action words, like run, jump and skip
Also, consider a potential hearing problem anytime there are concerns with speech or language development. Parents are advised to test their childs hearing if there is a family history of hearing loss or if your child has a chronic ear infection. Undiagnosed ear infections can lead to deafness. If you live in Arizona, visit PurTone Hearing Centers who provides hearing aids in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Goodyear, Peoria, Surprize, Yuma and Lake Havasu City Arizona.
Written by sillyfrank on August 31st, 2009 with
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