Hearing Loss and Speech Delay

Hearing loss is a common sensory deficit among infants. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) study, 5% of the world’s population is living with hearing loss and nearly 32 million are children. ¹  Even treatable forms of hearing loss can cause hearing and speech delays. Reduced social skills and poor academic performance can also occur in children with hearing loss.

An estimated 60% of the childhood hearing loss are preventable.¹ Early detection and effective intervention can decrease the impact hearing loss has on a child's development.

Signs and Symptoms

Infants:

• Does not respond to sounds
• Is not disturbed by loud noises
• Does not speak by 12 months of age

Older children:

• Unclear speech
• Delayed speech development
• Listens to sound or music at a high volume
• Always asks you to repeat a statement or word

Babies are tested for hearing loss at birth, and children are normally screened again before starting school. Nonetheless, if your baby or child exhibits hearing loss symptoms at any time, you need to test them as soon as possible to prevent any possible social impairment.

How Hearing Loss Affects Child Development

• Delayed speech development
• The child won't say 50 individual words or create two-word sentences at 24 months.
• Vocabulary is slow in children with hearing loss.
• Children with hearing loss can't pronounce or hear certain sounds "f," "k," "s," "sh," and "t" properly. Also, they can't hear their voices when they talk. They sometimes hear just a distorted version of themselves when they talk, causing them to talk too softly or loudly.
• Children with hearing loss find it difficult to hear words that end with -ed or -s.
• Children with hearing loss find it hard to understand complex sentence structures.
• Communication problems can cause feelings of isolation and social issues among children with hearing loss and speech delays.

Treatment and Outcome

Early detection and appropriate intervention are needed to prevent hearing loss and speech delay in children. The type of intervention required depends on the degree of hearing loss and often requires a team of professionals.

Any treatment that improves hearing will also help reduce and fix speech delays and social problems. Effective treatments for hearing loss include ​surgery or the use of hearing aids.

In some cases, speech therapy help improves any speech problems due to untreated hearing loss. Also, sign language can remedy social or academic issues and reduce feelings of isolation in deaf children.

Speak to your pediatrician or healthcare providers when you noticed any of the symptoms above.

Reference:

1) Childhood hearing Loss. Act Now, here’s Now! World Health Organization Website. https://www.who.int/pbd/deafness/world-hearing-day/WHD2016_Brochure_EN_2.pdf. Last accessed 10 May 2021.