Listen, Learn & Talk

Symptoms of Hearing Loss

 

Children

There are conditions which may occur before birth, during infancy or in childhood that may affect a child's ability to hear normally. If any of the conditions outlined below exist it is possible that a child has a hearing loss. If you are unsure about any of these conditions or are worried about your child's hearing, consult an Audiologist.

 

You can suspect hearing loss in a child

If the child does not respond to sound.

You have to call the child more than once.

If a child does not utter first word by one year of age.

The speech development of the child is delayed.

If the child asks to raise the volume of television or move

 closer to television.

In any of the above conditions contact an Audiologist.

 

Observing your child's hearing ability

In general, newborns will move or widen their eyes when they hear a sound, this is known as the startle reflex. Any loud sound should induce this reflex. When your infant gets older, about five or six months, you can better observe a more specific response by making soft sounds behind or to the side of your infant while your baby is looking straight ahead. (Be sure you are out of view when making the sounds!) A soft rattle, shake or a whisper should prompt your baby to turn his or her head toward the sound.

While we expect infants to startle when presented with very loud sounds, it is most important to see how well your baby responds to soft sounds (such as the speech sound "s").

During the first year, your baby will refine listening skills and should alert to and look for the sources of common sounds around the home, such as a ringing doorbell or telephone, slamming door, children playing, a musical toy and speech.

 

What to do if you think your child has a hearing loss

First, try not to worry, there is a whole range of technological and medical solutions to help and now more than ever children with hearing loss are able to live full and successful lives. The first step is to meet with a medical practitioner who may refer your child for tests which help determine hearing levels in infants or children. No child is too young to receive a thorough hearing evaluation. In fact, hearing assessment can even be completed at birth.

While simple hearing screenings may be conducted by nurses or trained volunteers, a complete assessment of hearing in a child should only be completed by an audiologist.

The purpose of the audio-logical evaluation is to determine if a hearing loss exists in one or both ears, to what degree, and to help determine the type of hearing loss. Test results are recorded on an audiogram.