Hearing Loss

Background:
Degree of Hearing loss Range (dB HL):
Normal
-10 to 15
Slight
16 to 25
Mild
26 to 40
Moderate
41 to 55
Moderately severe 56 to 70
Severe
71 to 90
Profound
91+
*3 types of hearing loss:
-Sensorineural- due to cochlear or neural auditory dysfunction
-Conductive- this is a problem due to the outer ear or middle ear;
conducting sound waves
-Mixed- a combination of conductive and sensorineural
*Hearing loss affects areas of speech, grammar, vocabulary, and
reading
*Signs and Symptoms

Muffled hearing
Asking for repetition
Tinnitus
Difficulty attending
Difficulty understanding speech in noise
Turning volume up on TV/ music
Thinking others mumble
Difficulty understanding speech over phone
Difficulty understanding speech particularly from women and children
Rhyming mistakes
Not participating in activities/ isolating self
Speaking too loud or too soft
Poor academics
Delayed language and speech production development
Behavioral concerns
Auditory processing problems

Affects on Childs Development

-Affects their vocabulary, learn concrete words before abstract
words
-With intervention they will catch up with other children over
time
-Talk and understand simpler and shorter sentences
-Can't hear word endings such as s and ed
-Their speech may be too loud, soft, mumbled, high pitched,
because they cant hear their own voice as well

-Compared to children with normal hearing, the achievement gap

with students with hearing loss widens as they get older, unless
interventions take place
-Children with mild or moderate hearing loss have more
problems socially in school

Affects of Language Development

*Phonology
- Children with hearing loss do not have the ability to hear quiet
speech sounds such as s, sh, k, t, so they usually tend not to use these
speech sounds when they talk.
*Morphology
- Children with hearing disorders tend to not be able to hear
word endings and usually do not use them in speech.
- Due to not being able to hear word endings the development of
morphology is very much behind for a child with a hearing
disorder.
*Semantics
-Usually show normal development in this area
-Tend to have to put more effort in accessing semantics and
usually have a higher rate of failing to be able to retrieve the
correct word meaning.
*Syntax
- Children with hearing loss tend to speak in shorter more simple
sentences
*Pragmatics
- Children who are placed in mainstream general education
classes have shown in multiple studies to have a better sociopragmatic language competence than children who were enrolled in
special education courses.
- Hard time in comprehending direct, indirect, deceitful and ironic
communication acts
- Lack the ability to express wants and needs, have a hard time
acting appropriately in different situations and also lack the
ability to express empathy.
*Expressive/Receptive language
- Harder time discerning language
-Difficulty processing auditory language
-cannot attend to the social and object environment
simultaneously..
-..at risk for missing optimal language stimulation from their
environment..

- Early intervention services are very important for children

under 6 months.
-Higher language skills, expressive language then those
who start after
*Discourse
- Hearing loss is shown to lead to problems with language
acquisition and speech
- The best way for these children to learn these skills is through
natural classroom environments, interactions with peers, not in
isolation
- These children come into the school setting needing to learn
both language and content, these can be learned together
through interaction and group-supported learning
References:
ASHA. Effects of hearing loss on development. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov.
2015. http://www.asha.org/
ASHA. Hearing loss- beyond early childhood. Retrieved from
http://www.asha.org/PRPSpecificTopic.aspx?
folderid=8589935335&section=Overview
ASHA. The prevalence and incidence of hearing loss in children.
Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Prevalenceand-Incidence-of-Hearing-Loss-in-Children/
Effect of hearing loss on semantic access by auditory and audiovisual
speech in children (n.d.): n. pag. Utdallas.edu. Web. 8 Nov. 15.
https://www.utdallas.edu/~herve/abdi-jtda_EH2013.pdf
Kretschmer, Richard R.,,Jr. (1997). Issues in the development of school
and interpersonal discourse for children who have hearing loss.
Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 28(4), 374383. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.mnsu.edu/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/85594626?
accountid=12259
Meinzen-Derr, J., Wiley, S., & Choo, D. I. (2011). Impact of early
intervention on expressive and receptive language development

among young children with permanent hearing loss. American

Annals of the Deaf, 155(5), 580-91. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.mnsu.edu/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/860771492?
accountid=12259
Thagard, E. K., Hilsmier, A. S., & Easterbrooks, S. R. (2011). Pragmatic
language in deaf and hard of hearing students: correlation with
success in general education. American Annals of the Deaf,
155(5), 526-34. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.mnsu.edu/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/860771291?
accountid=12259
Pipp-Siegel, S., Sedey, A. L., VanLeeuwen, A. M., & Yoshinaga-Itano, C.
(2003). Mastery motivation and expressive language in young
children with hearing loss. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf
Education, 8(2), 133-145. Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.mnsu.edu/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/85581807?
accountid=12259