About detecting hearing loss in children

What is detecting hearing loss in children?

Determining hearing loss in children facts

  • Children can be tested for hearing loss at any age.
  • There are several risk factors associated with hearing loss, including ear infections, prematurity, diseases, and syndromes.
  • Early identification of hearing loss will permit effective intervention, allowing for speech, language and cognitive development that are on target with a child's peers.
  • The ABR and the OAE evaluations are effective tests for infants and children who cannot cooperate for a traditional hearing evaluation.
  • Visual reinforcement audiometry and play audiometry are two behavioral methods used for testing cooperative children, which can obtain results similar to an adult evaluation.
  • A test of the middle-ear system should be included in a diagnostic hearing evaluation for all children.
  • When a hearing loss is detected, the child should be referred to an otolaryngologist or ENT to identify the cause of the loss. Further recommendations can be made by the ENT.

Myth

Accurate hearing testing cannot be done until a child reaches the age of 5 or 6.

Fact

Current technology now permits the accurate assessments of hearing in children starting within a few hours of birth. In fact, all states have mandates that testing of hearing be done in the newborn prior to discharge from the hospital.

Why test a child's hearing?

A child with undetected hearing loss may not be able to develop normal speech and language or acquire the cognitive abilities (knowing, thinking, and judging) needed for learning. Children whose hearing loss is not identified until, for example, 2 or 3 years of age may suffer from permanent impairment of speech, language, and learning.

The early identification of hearing loss permits the initiation of treatment and rehabilitation of the hearing-impaired child at a very young age. The child can then learn more normal speech skills when hearing loss is identified early and intervention begins.

Hearing loss can range from a mild impairment to profound loss. Many people think that hearing is only graded as normal or deaf. They may also think that the child is hearing normally if he or she is responding to sounds and voices. However, there are many subtle gradations between normal hearing and deafness and a child's hearing loss may not be apparent.

For example, it is common for a child with moderate hearing loss to develop speech and language and yet miss over half of what is being said. A child in this situation will have a distinct disadvantage in development and learning and will often reach a point where advancement stops unless the hearing loss is detected and treatment begins.

The stress on a child with hearing loss (and their family) can be enormous because the child does not understand why it is constant struggle to learn seemingly simple material (and the family is baffled as to why their bright child is not doing well).

The degree of hearing loss often determines the impact it will have on the child throughout life. However, with early identification and treatment, the impact can be lessened.

What are the symptoms for detecting hearing loss in children?

Reduced hearing symptom was found in the detecting hearing loss in children condition

The signs and symptoms of hearing loss can be different for each child. Even if your child has passed previous hearing tests, they could develop problems hearing later on. 

“Infants and toddlers with Hearing loss may not react normally to sounds or startle with noise,” Shannon Basham, AuD, senior director of audiology and education at Phonak, tells Web MD Connect to Care. “As these children grow, they may have difficulty following directions, fall behind with speech and have communication difficulties, and show signs of behavioral problems.” 

Other signs of Hearing loss in babies and children may include:

Babies:

  • Not reacting normally to sounds
  • Not startling with noise
  • Trouble locating the source of sound or voices
  • Speech delays
  • Trouble developing correct speech sounds 

Children:

  • Difficulty following directions
  • Speech delays or falling back in speech development 
  • Difficulties in school or sudden changes in academic performance
  • Communication difficulties
  • Behavioral problems
  • Distracted 
  • Listening to the television or radio louder than others

What are the causes for detecting hearing loss in children?

Hearing loss can affect a child’s ability to develop speech, language, and social skills. The earlier children with hearing loss start getting services, the more likely they are to reach their full potential.
Hearing loss can happen when any part of the ear is not working in the usual way.

Genetic factors are thought to cause more than 50% of all incidents of congenital hearing loss in children. Genetic hearing loss may be autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, or X-linked (related to the sex chromosome). Acquired hearing loss is a hearing loss which appears after birth, at any time in one's life, perhaps as a result of a disease, a condition, or an injury.
The following are examples of conditions that can cause acquired hearing loss in children are:
1. Encephalitis
2. Chickenpox
3. Influenza
4. Mumps
5. Head injury
6. Noise exposure
7. Ear infections (otitis media) (link to specific section above)
8. Ototoxic (damaging to the auditory system) drugs
9. Meningitis
10. Measles

Symptoms
Reduced hearing, such as inability to hear faint sounds,Failure to respond to sound,A delay of language and speech development in young children,Unclear speech
Conditions
Affect a child’s ability to develop speech, language, and social skills
Drugs
Cochlear implant surgery,Hearing aids,Speech therapy

What are the treatments for detecting hearing loss in children?

Hearing loss in children does not have a single treatment or intervention for every child or family. Good intervention plans will include close monitoring, follow-ups and any changes needed along the way. Technology does not “cure” hearing loss, but may help a child with hearing loss to make the most of their residual hearing. y, there are many options, including:

1. Hearing Aids: Hearing aids make sounds louder. They can be worn by people of any age, including infants. Babies with hearing loss may understand sounds better using hearing aids. This may give them the chance to learn speech skills at a young age.

2. Cochlear and Auditory Brainstem Implants: Persons with severe to profound hearing loss due to an absent or very small hearing nerve or severely abnormal inner ear (cochlea), may not benefit from a hearing aid or cochlear implant. Instead, an auditory brainstem implant may provide some hearing. An auditory brainstem implant directly stimulates the hearing pathways in the brainstem, bypassing the inner ear and hearing nerve.

3. Both cochlear and brainstem implants have two main parts — the parts that are placed inside the inner ear, the cochlea, or base of the brain, the brainstem ear during surgery, and the parts that are worn outside the ear after surgery. The parts outside the ear send sounds to the parts inside the ear.

4. Bone-Anchored Hearing Aids: This type of hearing aid can be considered when a child has either a conductive, mixed or unilateral hearing loss and is specifically suitable for children who cannot otherwise wear ‘in the ear’ or ‘behind the ear’ hearing aids.

Symptoms
Reduced hearing, such as inability to hear faint sounds,Failure to respond to sound,A delay of language and speech development in young children,Unclear speech
Conditions
Affect a child’s ability to develop speech, language, and social skills
Drugs
Cochlear implant surgery,Hearing aids,Speech therapy

What are the risk factors for detecting hearing loss in children?

Hearing loss in children stands out as the most common congenital sensory disorder.

1. Its late detection compromises speech, language and cognitive skills essential for optimal early childhood development. Auditory cortex and neural connections develop with acoustic stimuli
2. Globally, over 665,000 babies are born annually with significant hearing loss and this estimate increases with age, almost doubling by the age of nine years.
3. Universal newborn hearing screening is being promoted as an early detection strategy for hearing loss. Since optimal intervention for communication disorders is time-bound in early childhood, infants with hearing loss cannot afford to wait.
4. The technology and expertise have been developed to allow screening to detect hearing loss in newborn babies. Early intervention for permanent childhood hearing impairment has been shown to reduce the deleterious effects of impaired audition on language and cognitive and social skills of affected children
5. The most common risk factors are ototoxic medications, premature birth, low birth weight, and intensive care in excess of 7 days. They concluded that as the number of risk factors an infant is exposed to, the probability of hearing impairment increases.
6. Genetic factors are thought to cause more than 50% of all incidents of congenital hearing loss in children. Genetic hearing loss may be autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, or X-linked (related to the sex chromosome).
7. In the autosomal dominant hearing loss , one parent who carries the dominant gene for hearing loss and typically has a hearing loss passes it on to the child. In this case, there is at least a 50% probability that the child will also have a hearing loss. The probability is higher if both parents have the dominant gene.

Symptoms
Reduced hearing, such as inability to hear faint sounds,Failure to respond to sound,A delay of language and speech development in young children,Unclear speech
Conditions
Affect a child’s ability to develop speech, language, and social skills
Drugs
Cochlear implant surgery,Hearing aids,Speech therapy

Is there a cure/medications for detecting hearing loss in children?

Hearing loss in children does not have a single treatment or intervention for every child or family. Good intervention plans will include close monitoring, follow-ups and any changes needed along the way. Technology does not “cure” hearing loss, but may help a child with hearing loss to make the most of their residual hearing. y, there are many options, including:

1. Hearing Aids: Hearing aids make sounds louder. They can be worn by people of any age, including infants. Babies with hearing loss may understand sounds better using hearing aids. This may give them the chance to learn speech skills at a young age.

2. Cochlear and Auditory Brainstem Implants: Persons with severe to profound hearing loss due to an absent or very small hearing nerve or severely abnormal inner ear (cochlea), may not benefit from a hearing aid or cochlear implant. Instead, an auditory brainstem implant may provide some hearing. An auditory brainstem implant directly stimulates the hearing pathways in the brainstem, bypassing the inner ear and hearing nerve.

3. Both cochlear and brainstem implants have two main parts — the parts that are placed inside the inner ear, the cochlea, or base of the brain, the brainstem ear during surgery, and the parts that are worn outside the ear after surgery. The parts outside the ear send sounds to the parts inside the ear.

4. Bone-Anchored Hearing Aids: This type of hearing aid can be considered when a child has either a conductive, mixed or unilateral hearing loss and is specifically suitable for children who cannot otherwise wear ‘in the ear’ or ‘behind the ear’ hearing aids.

Symptoms
Reduced hearing, such as inability to hear faint sounds,Failure to respond to sound,A delay of language and speech development in young children,Unclear speech
Conditions
Affect a child’s ability to develop speech, language, and social skills
Drugs
Cochlear implant surgery,Hearing aids,Speech therapy

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