Hearing Impairment Symptoms and Causes

Hearing Impairment Symptoms and Causes

It is inability to hear well or not hearing at al

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

Types of hearing impairment

a) Hearing impairment – it is inability to hear well or not hearing at all. It can be classified according to ;

 Severity

 Age of onset

 Part of the ear affected

A: Classification according to severity

There are five categories of hearing impairment according to severity loss

1- Learners with slight hearing loss-

a) these learners can follow normal conversation if there is no noise but need face the speaker

b) They may have difficult hearing a distant speech

c) They will not have difficult in school situation

2 – Learners with mild hearing loss

They may only understand a conversation at a distance of 1m. Such learners will only follow a conversation if the room is quite and when they face the speaker

3 – Learners with moderate hearing loss

 The learners may have difficult hearing in all situations and can only follow a loud conversation

 They may defective speech

 They have limited vocabularies and require the help of hearing aid or speech training 4-Learners with severe hearing loss

 They only hear loud voices

 They are able to identify environmental sound and discriminate vowels but not consonants

 They require hearing aids and instruction to be in total communication

5 – Learners with profound hearing loss

 They may loud sounds that have vibrations

 They depend on vision rather than hearing an avenue of communication

 They use sign languages

B: Classification according to age of onset

There are two categories;

1-Pre-lingual deafness: is someone who was born with a hearing loss, or whose hearing loss occurred before they began to speak. Infants usually start saying their first words around one year.

2-Post-lingual deafness: is a deafness which develops after the acquisition of speech and language, usually after the age of six.

C: Classification according to part of the ear affected

The ear is functionally divided into three parts i.e. outer, middle and the inner ear. Any infection or damage to any part causes hearing loss. There are three types of hearing loss according to type of the ear affected.

Conductive Hearing Loss

This occurs when there is a condition of the outer or middle ear that prevents sound from reaching the inner ear. Causes can include blockage of the outer ear or ear canal, an ear infection with fluid, or a malformation of the outer or middle ear.

In some cases, conductive hearing loss may be temporary or treatable with medication or surgery.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

This is usually a result of a problem in inner ear or with the cochlea, either through malformation or damage. Damage can occur from infections such as meningitis, or as a side effect of certain medications.

Mixed Hearing Loss

This is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. The causes and options are the same as those described above.

Types of hearing difficulty

1- Hard of hearing

They are learners with despite loss of hearing, they have enough hearing rates called residual hearing. They can hear speech and acquire spoken language without use of hearing aid.

However for them to hear;

 One should be loud

 Place the individual near the speaker

 Provide a quite environment

 Face the speaker

 Use a suitable teaching aid

Characteristics of learners of hard of hearing

_{Ask for repletion of what has been said Have difficult in group discussion Misunderstand others Unable to monitor their voices Have difficulty understanding directions They curve their ears in the direction of the sound Stare at the speaker}

2 – Deaf

These are individuals whose hearing is severe, cannot hear or understand even when the speaker is made louder.

Characteristics of learners with hearing impairment

 Difficulty following verbal directions

 Difficulty with oral expression

 Some difficulties with social/emotional or interpersonal skills

 Will often have a degree of language delay

 Often follows and rarely leads

 Will usually exhibit some form of articulation difficulty

 Can become easily frustrated if their needs are not met which will lead to some behavioral difficulties

 Slow and labored speech

 Mainly use signs or gestures to be understood

 Ask for repletion of what they have not hard

 They tend to misunderstand others

 Unable to monitor their voices and hence speak loudly or softly

 Avoid participating in activities

 They curve their ears in direction of the sound

 They stare at the speaker

 They appear confused

 They may withdraw from the rest

Education implications

 Inability to hear in a loud environment

 Poor verbal communication between the teacher and the learner

 Inability to follow school routine

 Difficulty with several speech sounds and experience articulation difficulties.

 Background noise will interfere with speech reception.

 Early reading skills such as letter/sound identification can be affected.

 Speech and oral language will not develop spontaneously if the hearing loss is prelingual (before language).

Intervention strategies

 Advice on a suitable school placement

 Advice parents to seek medical care

 Use peers give the affected learners a preferential sitting

 Counseling services to deal with stigma, self acceptance etc

 Encourage the learners to observe general basics of hygiene

 Refer the affected learner for medical treatment

 Show positive attitude

 Adapting the curriculum

 Use residue learning (small amount of learning)

 Have personal contact with the learner provide eye glass for the low vision learner

 Teach survival skills e.g visual skills, social skills, motor skills etc.