When babies are born, it’s almost impossible to tell if they can hear properly. Except for a noticeable abnormality in the ear canal or ear drum, noticed by the physician, there’s no real way of knowing until the child is older. As the baby grows you might notice that it isn’t developing as quickly as other children or that it hasn’t progressed according to time lines in baby manuals. You could also notice things like the baby failing to respond to loud noises, or you may notice nothing out of the ordinary at all. Just because a baby shows any of these signs doesn’t mean that the child is experiencing difficulty in hearing, though. There are other reasons why a child might display any combination of these symptoms.
As the child approaches the age for speaking, but hasn’t uttered a word, this could be cause for concern, but not necessarily. Some children learn slower than others and some just aren’t ready to talk yet. When the child does begin speaking, he might say many words in correctly. Although children don’t have perfect pronunciation upon learning to speak, a child with hearing loss will often say very few words correctly. He or she might say “ha” for the word “hi” or say “ba” for “bottle”. This is because the child doesn’t hear the entire word, with each syllable and sound, he hears a general, almost indistinguishable sound instead.
If you suspect your baby has some hearing loss, do a couple of at-home tests to try and determine further if the child is having trouble. When the baby is just starting to awaken from a nap, sneak up to the head of the crib and clap your hands. Watch for a reaction from the baby. You can also lay the baby on a bed and talk to him, then have someone come up behind him and speak. See if the baby attempts to turn his head in the direction of the second voice. Another test is to have baby on lap, facing you, then have someone ring a bell or shake a rattle and see if the baby tries to turn towards the sound. Although it’s cause for some concern when you notice hearing loss in your child, there’s no need to assume that the child is deaf or permanently hearing impaired. Hearing tests can be done on young children, but they’re often inconclusive, since the child cannot tell the test administrator when and for how long they hear a beep. Special testing equipment just for the very young is available in some clinics which measures the flow of sound waves into and out of the ear.
Many young children have problems with ear infections or water on the eardrum, which prevents them from hearing correctly. Minor surgery can be done on the child where small tubes are inserted into the ears to allow for the draining of this fluid. After this surgery, many parents notice that the child no longer has frequent ear infections, but that the child also speaks more clearly and responds quicker. Only a doctor can determine if there is substantial hearing loss in your child, and what the treatment should be.
If substantial hearing loss is found to be present in your child, don’t despair. There are any number of new treatments which have been proven effective, schools which assist the hearing impaired in learning to cope, and new technology which allows for a perfectly normal life for the hearing impaired.
