Deafness & Hearing Loss

1. Deafness & Hearing Loss Chapter 9

2. Definitions from idea • Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, [and] that adversely affects a child’s educational performance. • Hearing Impairment means an impairment means an impairment in hearing whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child’s education performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section.

3. Also….. • Normal Hearing- a person has sufficient hearing to understand speech • Residual Hearing-the remaining hearing of a person with hearing loss. Also uses vision as a way of learning and communicating. • Hard of Hearing-has a significant hearing loss that makes some special adaptations necessary. Generally need the help of a hearing aid. • Hearing Impairment-Many people who are deaf find this inappropriate & demeaning because they do not view their hearing loss as a disability.

4. Characteristics • Students who receive special education because of hearing loss comprise an extremely heterogeneous group. • Hearing Loss in children effects their communication, language skills, academic achievement, and social and emotional functioning. -These are influenced by factors including; type and degree of hearing loss, the age at onset, the attitudes of the child’s parents and siblings, opportunities to acquire a first language. Children struggle in English Literacy, Speaking, Academic Achievement, Social Functioning, and other aspects of their life.

5. Types & Causes of Hearing Loss • The 2 types are; Conductive & Sensorineural. • Conductive Hearing Loss-abnormalities or complications of the outer or middle ear. • Sensorineural Hearing Loss-damage to the auditory nerve fibers or other sensitive mechanisms in the inner ear. • There are 2 types of onset: Congenital & Acquired. • Congenital-present at birth • Acquired-appears after birth • Prelingual hearing loss & Postlingual hearing loss identify whether a hearing loss occurred before of after the development of spoken language.

6. Causes of Congenital Hearing Loss • Genetic Factors: • Autosomal dominant hearing loss • Autosomal recessive hearing loss • X-linked hearing loss Maternal Rubella-when mother has German Measles in her first trimester. Congenital Cytomegalovirus-a common viral infection. Is a member of TORCHES (toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex, and syphilis) Prematurity-early delivery of fetus and low birth weight are most common for children with hearing loss.

7. Causes of acquired hearing loss • Otitis Media-a temporary, recurrent infection of the middle ear. It’s the most common medical diagnosis for children. • Meningitis-a bacterial or viral infection of the central nervous system that can destroy the sensitive acoustic apparatus of the inner ear. • Meniere’s Disease-a rare disorder of the inner ear. Characterized by sudden and unpredictable attacks of vertigo. • Noise-Induced Hearing Loss- noise pollution, repeated exposure to loud sounds. EX: jet aircraft, guns, and amplified music.

8. Degrees of hearing Loss • Slight • Mild • Moderate • Severe • Profound

9. Technologies & supports • Hearing Aids • Group Assistive Listening Devices • Cochlear Implants • Interpreters • Speech-to-Text Translation • Television Captioning • Text Telephones • Alerting Devices

10. Educational Approaches • Auditory Learning • Speechreading • Cued Speech • Visual Phonics • Manually Coded English • Fingerspelling (Sign Language)