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Can Hearing Loss Affect Your Speech

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Effects Of Hearing Loss On Speech Development

Hearing loss – How it can affect you?

For a child hearing and speech are important tools for learning. Children learn to communicate by hearing the sounds they hear. If for some reason their hearing gets impaired it also has an adverse effect on their ability to speak too. This ultimately leads to delay in speech development. The academic progress suffers as a result of the problem. In the long run it may cause social and psychological problems. In this blog we will try to help you understand the how hearing loss in children leads to speech disorder. We will also guide you to treat the problem if it is detected in your child.

Hearing Loss In Children

Hearing loss in children may often go undetected. The loss of hearing in children varies both in the type and the degree. Most hearing loss in children can now be treated effectively. However for that to happen, early detection of the problem is critical. Most effective treatment can be done with early intervention. So in case there is a problem with your childs hearing you must try to identify it early.;

The hearing loss in children may congenital or it may be acquired. However whatever be the cause you must be able to identify the symptoms early. At different stages while the child is growing up as a baby there are different indications whether they respond to sound or not. For example for a baby up to 4 months he or she may awaken or stir at loud sounds, respond to similar voice etc. Between 4 to 9 months the child should turn towards the source of familiar sounds, smile when spoken etc. Between 9 to 15 months the baby must be able to babble at different sounds, respond to his her name, repeat the sounds you make etc. When the child grows to an age of 15 -24 months he or she be able to follow simple commands, listen to stories and rhymes, etc.;

In case your child is in preschool and does not;reply when you call him/her, he/she may has articulation problems. He or she may often to turn up the volume of the television set is another indication of the problem. He or she may complain of ear pain and so on.;

How The Ear Hears

Think about how you can feel speakers vibrate on your sound system or feel your throat vibrate when you speak. Sound, which is made up of invisible waves of energy, causes these vibrations.

Hearing begins when sound waves that travel through the air reach the outer ear or pinna, which is the part of the ear you can see. The sound waves then travel from the pinna through the ear canal to the middle ear, which includes the eardrum and three tiny bones called ossicles. When the eardrum vibrates, the ossicles amplify these vibrations and carry them to the inner ear.

The inner ear is made up of a snail-shaped chamber called the cochlea , which is filled with fluid and lined with thousands of tiny hair cells . When the vibrations move through the fluid, the tiny outer hair cells amplify the vibrations. The amplification is important because it allows you;to hear soft sounds, like whispering and birds.

Then, the inner hair cells translate the vibrations into electrical nerve impulses and send them to the auditorynerve, which connects the inner ear to the brain. When these nerve impulses reach the brain, they are interpreted as sound. The cochlea is like a piano: specific areas along the length of the cochlea pick up gradually higher pitches.

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Hearing Loss Treatment And Intervention Services

No single treatment or intervention is the answer for every child or family. Good intervention plans will include close monitoring, follow-ups and any changes needed along the way. There are many different options for children with hearing loss and their families.

Some of the treatment and intervention options include:

  • Working with a professional who can help a child and family learn to communicate.
  • Getting a hearing device, such as a hearing aid.
  • Joining support groups.
  • Taking advantage of other resources available to children with a hearing loss and their families.

Causes And Risk Factors

Learn More About Hearing Loss in Children

Hearing loss can happen any time during life from before birth to adulthood.

Following are some of the things that can increase the chance that a child will have hearing loss:

  • A genetic cause: About 1 out of 2 cases of hearing loss in babies is due to genetic causes. Some babies with a genetic cause for their hearing loss might have family members who also have a hearing loss. About 1 out of 3 babies with genetic hearing loss have a syndrome. This means they have other conditions in addition to the hearing loss, such as Down syndrome or Usher syndrome. Learn more about the genetics of hearing loss »
  • 1 out of 4 cases of hearing loss in babies is due to maternal infections during pregnancy, complications after birth, and head trauma. For example, the child:
  • Was exposed to infection, such as , before birth
  • Spent 5 days or more in a hospital neonatal intensive care unit or had complications while in the NICU
  • Needed a special procedure like a blood transfusion to treat bad jaundice
  • Has head, face or ears shaped or formed in a different way than usual
  • Has a condition like a neurological disorder that may be associated with hearing loss
  • Had an infection around the brain and spinal cord called meningitis
  • Received a bad injury to the head that required a hospital stay
  • For about 1 out of 4 babies born with hearing loss, the cause is unknown.
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    How Do Doctors Diagnose It

    Hearing loss can be difficult to diagnose in infants and babies because they haven’t yet developed communication skills. All babies are screened before they leave the hospital to see if they have hearing loss. Sometimes parents may begin to notice that the baby doesn’t respond to loud noises or to the sound of voices, or has a delay in speech.

    Certain symptoms in teens should prompt a trip to the doctor. According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, you should let your parents or doctor know if:

    • You feel that people mumble or that their speech is not clear, or you hear only parts of conversations when people are talking.
    • You often ask people to repeat what they said.
    • Friends or family tell you that you don’t seem to hear very well.
    • You don’t laugh at jokes because you miss too much of the story.
    • You need to ask others about the details of a class or meeting you attended.
    • People say that you play music or your TV too loudly.
    • You can’t hear the doorbell or telephone.

    The doctor will do an ear exam and, if necessary, refer someone with these symptoms to an audiologist, a health professional who specializes in diagnosing and treating hearing problems. The audiologist will do various hearing tests that can help detect where the problem might be.

    A person may also need to see an otolaryngologist , a doctor who specializes in ear, nose, and throat problems.

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    Wearing Hearing Aids Means Im Old And Im Not Ready For That

    Its normal to feel worried that hearing loss means youre agingand to want to hide it. Plenty of people with a hearing impairment sit silently rather than joining in conversations and activities, because they fear that hearing problems will make them seem helpless or less than competent. The truth: Connecting with others can help your brain stay younger and keep you involved with life.

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    Children And Hearing Loss

    Hearing loss is harmful to people of all ages, but for children, it has special implications. Because babies and young children need to hear in order to develop spoken;language, good hearing is the foundation for spoken communication, social development and educational success.

    Most hospitals screen every newborn for potential hearing loss. Those infants identified by the screening are referred for further testing to confirm the presence of hearing loss and gather more information so decisions can be made regarding intervention. If your child has a hearing loss, you are encouraged to talk with a pediatric audiologist. Pediatric audiology is a specialized field of professionals dedicated to the specific needs of babies and children with hearing loss.

    Hearing loss in children can be caused by congenital factors, head trauma, medications, childhood illnesses, persistent middle ear infections, deformities of the ear canal or malfunctioning eardrums. Treatment of childhood hearing loss depends largely on the underlying cause. Identification of hearing loss and intervention prior to 6 months of age has been shown to dramatically improve outcomes for kids.;;

    Effects Of Hearing Loss On Literacy And Education

    Hearing loss can effect your job

    Recent data from the Gallaudet Research Institute’s annual survey indicate that approximately 51.2 percent of children and youth with hearing loss are white, 15.4 percent black, 24.5 percent Hispanic, 4.3 percent Asian-Pacific Islander, and 0.8 percent American Indian, with the rest falling under the other or multiethnic categories . About 54 percent are male and 46 percent are female. This survey represents a database of roughly 60 percent of children in the United States who are and hard-of-hearing and is based on reports from educational programs in which these children are enrolled . Current racial/ethnic proportions now mirror those found in the United States .

    With regard to academic achievement, children who lose their hearing after learning English generally achieve higher scores on standardized tests, including reading, than those with hearing loss at younger ages. The exception is children of deaf parents, who tend to have higher English-language achievement scores than those with limited access to linguistic interaction both inside and outside the home. It is important to keep in mind, however, that the range of results is considerable. Mathematics performance, while higher than for language-based achievement, is not equivalent to that for hearing peers.

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    How Does Hearing Loss Affect Your Speech

    When most people think about hearing loss, their first concern is not being able to hear what people are saying to them, even at a close distance. But, as hearing loss progresses, some people notice that they arent able to communicate as effectively with others.;

    Speech problems are most commonly found in those who have had hearing issues since childhood. But they can also arise in adults who have long-term hearing loss; especially if it goes untreated for any length of time.;

    So, how is your speech affected by hearing loss? Why does it change if you experience hearing issues as an adult? Most importantly, can you do anything to treat it? Lets find out more.;

    Hearing Loss And Deafness

    A person who is not able to hear as well as someone with normal hearing hearing thresholds of 20 dB or better in both ears is said to have hearing loss. Hearing loss may be mild, moderate, severe, or profound. It can affect one ear or both ears, and leads to difficulty in hearing conversational speech or loud sounds.

    ‘Hard of hearing’ refers to people with hearing loss ranging from mild to severe. People who are hard of hearing usually communicate through spoken language and can benefit from hearing aids, cochlear implants, and other assistive devices as well as captioning.

    ‘Deaf’ people mostly have profound hearing loss, which implies very little or no hearing. They often use sign language for communication.

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    Adult Hearing Loss And Speech

    Adult hearing lossÂ;often affects theÂ;ability to understand what others are saying.Â;âAs you would expect, adult hearing loss is significantly associated with decreased speech comprehension,â Hamid Djalilian, director of otology and neurotology at the University of California, Irvine, tells WebMD Connect to Care.Â;

    This difficulty understanding what people are saying also involves other communication problems, such as understanding the emotions behind what is being said. âRecent studies have confirmed that older individuals with hearing loss exhibit significant difficulty in recognizing emotions in speech,â Djalilian says.

    According to a 2019 article published in The Hearing Review, hearing loss can result in âfeelings of frustration, embarrassment, and distressâ for adults with hearing loss and their partners. This puts adults with hearing loss at a higher risk for loneliness and social isolation.Â;

    âThere begins to be a negative spiral with adult hearing loss,â Djalilian says. âThe hearing loss causes decreased speech perception, which then strains relationships. And this strain leads to social isolation, loneliness, and depressionâall conditions that are notably increased in adults with hearing loss.â

    If youâre struggling with hearing loss, hearing aids may be able to help. The right hearing aidÂ;couldÂ;significantly improve your hearing abilities and preventÂ;some of the communication and perceptual difficulties associated with hearing loss.

    Hearing Aid Myths That Hold You Back

    Understanding high

    Can hearing aids reduce these risks? Lin hopes to find out in a new study, still in the planning stages. These studies have never been done before, he notes. What we do know is that theres no downside to using hearing aids. They help most people who try them. And in those people, they can make all the difference in the worldallowing people to reengage with friends and family and to be more involved again.

    Although nearly 27 million Americans age 50 and older have hearing loss, only one in seven uses a hearing aid. If you think your hearing has diminished, its worth making an appointment with an audiologist for a hearing check, Lin says. If you have hearing loss, dont let the following myths keep you from getting help.

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    Hearing Loss And Speech Delay In Children

    Hearing loss is a partial or total loss of the ability to hear. This can be temporary or permanent, and it can happen in one or both ears. Hearing loss is a common cause of delayed speech development in children.

    Speech refers to the way sounds and words are made when talking. Children must be able to hear others and themselves talk in order to develop speech and language skills. Common causes of hearing loss that may affect your childs speech development include:

    • Too much wax or fluid in the ear over a long period of time.
    • Frequent ear infections.
    • Injury to the ear or the area surrounding the ear.
    • An object stuck in the ear.
    • Prolonged exposure to loud sounds, such as music.

    Hearing Losseffects On Adults

    Adults can develop age-related hearing loss or any hearing impairments after their vital speechskills have been well-established. They are often surprised at how that can affect their speech. Untreated hearing loss in adults is common when they dont think it is severe enough for a hearing evaluation.;

    Audiologists at a family hearing center often offer a complimentary hearing assessment. Then you can get a good idea of the severity and the impact it is having.;

    There are areas of your brain that work together when hearing sounds. When your auditory nerve isnt receiving the information due to hearing impairments, that area of your brain shrinks due to lack of use. This damage can make it difficult to understand certain words or concepts.;;

    Untreated hearing loss can have devastating effects on a person. This is why treatment is so important. Hearing aids are used often to minimize the amount of difficulty overtimepatients experience.;

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    Can Hearing Loss Cause Speech Problems In Adults

    Hearing loss can affect speech in adults, but not in the way you might think. Adult hearing loss primarily affects speech perception rather than speech production. This means that adult hearing loss not just a sensory problemâthere are also communication issues that are important to address.Â;

    About Hearing Loss In Children

    How Hearing Loss Affects your Brain

    Hearing is one of our five senses. Hearing gives us access to sounds in the world around uspeoples voices, their words, a car horn blown in warning or as hello!

    When a child has a hearing loss, it is cause for immediate attention. Thats because language and communication skills develop most rapidly in childhood, especially before the age of 3. When hearing loss goes undetected, children are delayed in developing these skills .

    Recognizing the importance of early detection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that every newborn be screened for hearing loss as early as possible, usually before they; leave the hospital. Catching a hearing loss early means that treatment can start early as well and help the child develop communication and language skills that will last a lifetime .

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    The Link Between Hearing Loss And Cognition Is Not Fully Understood

    In recent years, there has been extensive research examining how age-related hearing loss and brain function are associated. There are some general concepts that might contribute to the association between hearing loss and cognition. One theory is that hearing loss leads to a decreased input to the brain, so there is less processing that occurs, which contributes to cognitive decline . Another theory is that early cognitive deficits may impact a persons ability to process sound, and thus contribute to hearing loss . Irrespective of which theory is correct, it is clear that the association between hearing and cognition is very real. This association emphasizes the need to improve our approach to testing and treating hearing loss.

    Signs Of Hearing Loss

    A “sign” is what a health care provider can detect with testing or a medical exam . To look for the signs of hearing loss, a hearing care provider will generally start with questions;about symptoms you’re experiencing, and then conduct;a formal hearing test to see how well you hear beep-like sounds , speech in noise and other sounds. Your hearing is then plotted on an audiogram;that shows the extent of your hearing loss in both ears. Here’s how to know if you need your hearing tested.

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    What Causes Hearing Impairment

    The most common cause of conductive hearing loss in kids and teens is otitis media, which is the medical term for an ear infection that affects the middle ear. Ear infections cause a buildup of fluid or pus behind the eardrum, which can block the transmission of sound. Even after the infection gets better, fluid might stay in the middle ear for weeks or even months, causing difficulty hearing.

    But this fluid is usually temporary, and whether it goes away on its own or with the help of medications, once it’s gone a person’s hearing typically returns to normal. Blockages in the ear, such as a foreign object, impacted earwax or dirt, or fluid due to colds and allergies, can also cause conductive hearing loss.

    People also get conductive hearing loss when key parts of the ear the eardrum, ear canal, or ossicles are damaged. For example, a tear or hole in the eardrum can interfere with its ability to vibrate properly. Causes of this damage may include inserting an object such as a cotton swab too far into the ear, a sudden explosion or other loud noise, a sudden change in air pressure, a head injury, or repeated ear infections.

    Sensorineural hearing impairment results from problems with or damage to the inner ear or the auditory nerve. Its causes include:

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    Use Of Auditory Prostheses

    Hearing Loss Causes, Types and Diagnostic Testing in ...

    When children are born with a hearing loss, prosthetic devices can be used to amplify the environmental sounds to levels that make them audible . If the hearing loss is quite severe, acoustic amplification, such as that provided by hearing aids, may not have enough power to provide audibility, especially for soft speech sounds. In those cases, surgically administered cochlear implants can be used to sample environmental sounds, transduce sounds into a series of electrical impulses, and present these representations of the sound to the auditory nerve directly through the inner ear. Fitting of prosthetic devices to children is a complex process. When care is taken to fit appropriately and follow with educational intervention to train them in the use of the altered signal and to augment development of communication, the communication ability and auditory development of children can be dramatically improved.

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    What Are Common Types Of Hearing Loss

    Your babys auditory system is the system in the body that helps her hear. It makes sense of sound information as it travels from the ear to the brain. Problems in these parts of the auditory system may cause hearing loss:

    • Outer ear. This includes the part of the ear on the outside of the head, the ear canal and the outside of the eardrum. The eardrum separates the outer and middle ear.
    • Middle ear. This is made up of the inside of the eardrum and three small bones called ossicles. Sound coming into the ear moves through the ear canal to the eardrum, causing the eardrum to vibrate . When the eardrum vibrates, it moves the ossicles. This helps sound move to the inner ear.
    • Inner ear. This is made up of the cochlea and canals that help with balance. The inner ear also has nerves that change sound vibrations into signals that travel to the brain through the auditory nerve . The auditory nerve sends sound information from the ear to the brain.

    Common types of hearing loss include:

    Disability Determination Tests And Criteria

    Action Recommendation 7-1. The recommended criteria for determination of disability in children who are or hard-of-hearing are presented in tabular format in . To be considered disabled, children under 3 years of age must meet the criterion for hearing level only. Children older than 3 years must meet the pure-tone average criterion and either the criterion for deficit in speech perception or the criterion for delay in language. Children with marked mental retardation who cannot be evaluated for speech perception or language should be considered disabled if the hearing level criterion alone is met.

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    Symptoms Of Hearing Loss In Children

    Hearing loss in children is usually detected with the help of a newborn infant hearing screening soon after birth. Some parents;also may be able to detect hearing loss in their child if it’s not caught at birth.;

    Symptoms of hearing loss in children include:

    • A delay in speech and language development
    • Child does not startle when loud sound is present
    • Child cannot localize sound
    • Poor performance in school
    • A learning disability diagnosis

    Relationships With People With Hearing Loss

    How Can Untreated Hearing Loss Affect My Physical Health?

    Social outings and conversations for people with hearingloss change dramatically. You cannot be fully connected with someone when you arent picking up on everything that is being said or happening around you.;

    This is why the understanding and support of friends and family is so important. That way you can understand the changes in their speech and possibly how they communicate. You can help them stay connected with others and yourself.;

    The severity of the impairments may change over time. Potential hearing loss can be scary for anyone, and not knowing what will happen with future hearing loss. Getting treatment and support for hearing loss lessens the impact on speech and allows you to navigate the condition with as many resources as possible.

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    What Actions Cani Take To Lower My Childs Risk Of Speech Delay

    Preventive care and treatment

    • Watch for signs that may indicate that your child is havingtrouble hearing, such as:
    • Symptoms ofan ear infection. Symptoms may include ear pain, rubbing or pulling at theears, dizziness or loss of balance, or fluid draining from the ears.
    • Notresponding to or understanding sounds or speech spoken at a normal volume.
  • Have your child get hearing tests as often as recommended.Hearing screenings are often offered by schools, community centers, and yourchilds health care provider.
  • If directed, work with a health care provider who specializesin:
  • Earstructure and function .
    • Hearingproblems .
    • Speech andlanguage development .
  • Start treatment for hearing loss and speech problems as early aspossible. Starting treatment early can help prevent or reduce speech delay.Treatment may include:
  • Hearingaids.
    • A hearingdevice that is implanted into the inner ear to help your child hear sounds more clearly.
    • A program toeducate you and your family about hearing loss and to help you understand yourrole in your childs long-term treatment.
  • Take steps to prevent hearing loss from getting worse:
  • Get medicaltreatment for your childs ear infections right away.
    • Keep yourchild away from loud noises and secondhand smoke.
    • Monitor thevolume on electronic devices that your child uses.
    • Encourageyour child to use ear plugs or noise-reducing headphones when listening tomusic or playing video games on electronic devices.

    Helping your child learn

    • Reading toyour child.

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