Hearing loss and Its effects in children’s quality of life

INTRODUCTION
Hearing is a basic quality of living. Sometimes it works as the only modality to sense or perceive something. So it is a matter of concern that  any loss or disorder in this normal process is directly connected with quality of life. One’s level of life quality is negatively proportional with living that means how much it occurs with someone’s quality of life falling downward with proportion. Hearing loss can be demonstrated as a handicapping factor which makes an invisible wall between a person with hearing loss and normal living society. Moreover if the devastating matter occurs with children this effect is so miserable and far-reaching.

 

Hearing loss
“Hearing loss” refers to the total loss or partial impairment of hearing modalities of a human. In another word, total or partial inability to hear sounds is considered as hearing loss. According to the Textbook of clinical pediatrics (2012,Berlin) – “Hearing loss exists when there is diminished acuity to sounds normally heard. The terms hearing impaired or hard of hearing are usually reserved for people who have relative inability to hear sound in the speech frequencies.” Sometimes hearing loss is defined as a level of loss such that a person is unable to understand speech even in the presence of amplification. We know that human hearing extends in frequency from 20–20,000 Hz, and in intensity from 0 dB to 120 dB HL or more. So functionally any deviation from this standard is considered as a representation of hearing loss.

Hearing loss can be occurred  in any level such as both of the ear or one, besides it’s severity can be various types. So it is possible to  categorise into various types based on different factors. We can demonstrate it in like a table below:

Differential       factors	Types
Birth time	Prenatal: hearing loss before birth.                                                                                                                Perinatal: hearing loss during birth.   Postnatal: hearing loss after birth.
Language         development	Prelingual: hearing loss before language acquisition   Perilingual: hearing loss in the process of language acquisition.                                                            Postlingual: hearing loss after acquiring language.
Structure of ear	Conductive: occurs together in the outer and middle ear or only in the outer/middle ear. This type of loss  affects the conduction of acoustic signals.   Sensorineural: The area of hearing loss is nervous system and sensation organ cochlea.   Mixed hearing loss: conductive and sensorineural hearing loss merging is identified as mixed hearing loss.

Moreover based on severity of hearing hardness of sound intensity is a factor of categorising hearing loss into normal slight, mild, moderate, profound hearing loss. It can be also congenital or acquiring loss.

The representation or sign symptoms of hearing loss vary from person to person. But some common experiences are considered as symptoms of hearing loss. According to Healthy Hearing Association UK In general, people who have hearing loss may experience any or all of the following: difficulty understanding everyday conversation, a feeling of being able to hear but not understand, having to turn up the TV or radio, asking others to repeat often, avoidance of social situations that were once enjoyable, increased difficulty communicating in noisy situations like restaurants, lively family gatherings, in the car or in group meetings, Tinnitus, or ringing and/or buzzing sounds in the ears.

The causes behind hearing loss could be getting old age, noise effect on ear, genetical elements of mutation, difficulty in birth time or infection on auditory channel and others.According to Hearing loss association American research some diseases or circumstances that can cause deafness include:chicken pox, cytomegalovirus, mumps, meningitis, diabetes and so on. Ageing is a cause of hearing loss that is entitled as presbycusis. Noise exposure is the cause of more than half of all cases of hearing loss. Some genetic or inherent factors are considered as hearing loss like down syndrome, auditory neuropathy. Traumatic brain injury in the respective hearing area is also a major cause of hearing loss.

The identification or diagnosis of hearing loss are going through some screening test or assignment Technics. Some of those are objective others are subjective. OAE, ABS response, auditory steady state response, tympanometry are the modes of objective methodology. Some examples of subjective techniques are behavioural observation audiometry, distraction test, performance test, pure tone audiometry etc.

After diagnosing hearing loss, the audiologist makes a decision about the degree or severity of hearing loss. They suggest some medicine and sometimes patients are going through surgery. Hearing aids are also suggested for poor hearing. The intervention and prevention of hearing loss is not totally defined; it is under research and enriching this field day by day.

 

Effect of hearing loss in children:

Children are  the future. The earlier a child gets trouble the future makes it darker. Thus hearing loss puting humans backward in case of children is the most frustrating fact. The earlier hearing loss occurs in a child’s life, the more serious the effects on the child’s development. Hearing loss works as a shackle against development of children.The effect of hearing loss is destructive for future and various.

Hearing loss causes delay in the development of speech and language. Speech and language are the basic means of communication and living. It affects the both receptive and expressive communication skills. This language deviation further affects the communication process and also learning or acquiring some basic knowledge.

Vocabulary develops more slowly in children who have hearing loss. People with hearing loss have limited vocabulary. They can’t express their feelings or want in social language. It deviates the community from mainstream rights and facilities. The gap between the vocabulary of children with normal hearing and those with hearing loss widens with age. Children with hearing loss do not catch up without intervention.

Children with hearing loss are going through hardship in their linguistics ability. Because of not hearing signals properly they miss the phonetic and phonological aspects of language. As children aren’t able to comprehend enough vocabulary so they failed in word formation and morphological features of language. Children with hearing loss also struggle with structure and meaning. Especially the hardly comprehend the prosodical or connotative meaning of words like sarcasm, jokes, poem etc.

Children with hearing loss often cannot hear quiet speech sounds such as “s,” “sh,” “f,” “t,” and “k” and therefore do not include them in their speech. Thus, speech may be difficult to understand. They may not hear their own voices when they speak. They may speak too loudly or not loud enough. They may have a speaking pitch that is too high. They may sound like they are mumbling because of poor stress, poor inflection, or poor rate of speaking.

Deficit in language development affects academic studies of children. Their academic achievement gets lower with time. By missing acoustic signal children with hearing loss missed a branch of academic instruction that makes a bloody effect on their academic studies.

Language and communication are the bridge between society. Children with hearing loss getting isolation and fairness for disability in communication mode. It has an effect on their social foundation and facilities.

Struggling with daily family, Social and academic life makes children frustrated and disappointed. These are the causes of psychological sickness. Children with hearing loss deviates from psychological standards and express it in unusual behavioural change.

In essence hearing loss at any mode of hearing deviation makes a difference in quality of life in between normal children and children with hearing loss.

Conclusion:
Hearing is a normal demand of sensing so any deficit in this process is respective with quality of life. Hearing loss makes a vast effect on people’s life living choice. Moreover if it occurs with a child that’s effect is more alarming. The world are enriching with knowledge and experience day by day, the prevention of hearing loss are getting updates. So it’s not too far when hearing loss would not be matter of inferiority or hindrance to live a quality life.