Glue ear, ear infections and Eustachian Tube dysfunction are the most common causes of hearing loss in children. Up to 30% of children experience hearing loss due to a cold or ear infection at any one time, but particularly during the winter months. Left untreated over a number of months, this hearing loss can result in language and learning delays. It may also cause ‘auditory processing disorder’, where children experience difficulties with concentration and comprehension, especially in situations where there is background noise, at school. Signs of hearing loss in children include:
- unresponsive when called from behind in quiet
- listening to the television at a louder volume
- needs instructions to be broken down
- frequently asking “what”
- speech and language delay or poor communication
(CENTRAL) AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER
(Central) auditory processing difficulties occur when the brain has trouble understanding what our ears hear – even with normal hearing and learning ability. The most common (C)AP difficulties are difficulty listening in background noise, attention and concentration difficulty, frequent need for clarification of information. For more information on (Central) Auditory Processing Difficulties and identifying behaviours.
For children with (Central) Auditory Processing Difficulties, the FastForWord computer programmes work like a personal trainer for the brain, strengthening neural networks to build students' listening skills, auditory processing speed and accuracy as well as improving memory and attention and language skills such as reading fluency and comprehension.
WHAT HAPPENS DURING A HEARING TEST
When you come for a hearing assessment, your Audiologist will take a comprehensive history from you, including:
- a detailed description of the child’s perceived difficulties, including: responsiveness at home, concentration and learning progress at school, ability to follow multiple verbal instructions
- history of ear infections and treatment
- history of speech and language development
- general health, including how often the child has a cold or nasal congestion
- your family history of deafness
- pregnancy and birth history
Following this, a thorough examination will follow, including:
- Otoscopy: a visual check of the health of the ears
- Tympanometry: a painless test, which picks up glue ear, ear infections and Eustachian Tube dysfunction which often leads to glue ear or ear infections
- Pure Tone Audiometry: conducted in a sound proof booth, your child will play “listening” games designed to establish the softest sounds he/she can hear
- Speech Testing: a test to determine your child’s ability to discriminate between different speech sounds
Your audiologist will explain the results and make any recommendations, as appropriate, including any referrals, monitoring or further assessment.
BETTER HEARING IN THE CLASSROOM
Lesson plans and teaching strategies are primarily delivered to students by the teacher’s spoken word. In the classroom, this may be fragmented and/or masked by: physical distance, background noise levels, and classroom reverberation. Many children will require higher than average teacher voice to noise ratio for basic learning, including children with:
- Fluctuating hearing loss due to “glue ear”, ear infections, chronic nasal congestion
- (Central) Auditory Processing Disorder
- Non-English Speaking Background
- ADHD
- Learning delays
Sonic Hearing offers personal amplification systems , as well as fully portable classroom amplification systems as a solution to this common problem. In addition to the benefits for children, classroom amplification provides vocal strain relief for school teachers, who are among the highest risk categories of occupations for vocal abuse, nodes and related surgery.