What are the impacts of hearing loss on child development?
Hearing loss is often associated with growing old, with one in three adults over the age of 60 experiencing some degree of hearing loss. However, the reality is that hearing loss may occur to anyone, at any age. The Center for Disease Control estimates that 14.9% of children, between the ages of six and 19, experience some degree of hearing loss in one or both ears.
Most commonly, hearing loss occurs in children due to congenital conditions; in 50% to 60% of cases of hearing loss infants, genetics are the cause. Other causes include syndromes such as Down’s or Usher, as well as infections or other health-related conditions experienced by the mother and child during pregnancy. The CDC reports that in 2011, 97% of newborns in the United States were screened for hearing loss. Identifying hearing loss and treating it are crucial steps to the supporting the development of the child as they grow.
The sense of hearing is a fundamental mode of gathering information, which lays the foundation for a child’s social and emotional development. Children take in language, social customs, nuances, and information through the sense of hearing. Hearing is also an essential part of communication, receiving instructions, criticism, and praise, and shapes a child’s personality.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) identifies four categories that outline the effects of hearing loss on childhood development:
1. Speech/language: Delays in the development of receptive and expressive language;
2. Academics: Language deficit causes learning problems that result in reduced academic achievement;
3. Social functioning: Communication difficulties can lead to isolation and poor self-concept;
4. Vocational choices: The above may have an impact on career choices.
(Source: www.asha.org/public/effects-of-hearing-loss-on-development)
Many studies have indicated the difficulties with speech recognition due to hearing loss. For children, hearing loss specifically affects vocabulary development and sentence comprehension and structure. Children with untreated hearing loss may have difficulties discerning certain words, hearing word beginnings and endings, and have difficulty forming sentences in the correct verb tense. This leads to a struggle for children to express specific emotions, fears, and problems in ways that correspond to their feelings.
At the same time, hearing is linked directly to cognitive load and brain function. When a child struggles to hear in the classroom, they will expend more energy to make sense of what is being said as opposed to processing and analyzing the concepts being taught. ASHA reports that “children with hearing loss have difficulty with all areas of academic achievement, especially in reading and mathematical concepts.”
Generally speaking, hearing loss may be an isolating experience, especially with children experiencing hearing loss. Because speaking and communicating proves difficult, children may withdraw and hesitate to speak or express their feelings and opinions. In the long term, these early experiences of isolation and difficulty may affect future vocational choices – perhaps a hesitation to pursue lines of work they dream to, due to a disconnection from their surroundings.
There are solutions to treating hearing loss in children. Hearing aid manufacturers offer pediatric hearing devices for children and teenagers, which reconnects them to their environment. These sleek, discreetly designed devices are state-of-the-art, innovative, and technologically advanced, often equipped with wireless capabilities. If you believe your child is having difficulty hearing, the first step is to meet with an audiologist and have them take a hearing test.