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Hearing Loss In Children
If you think your child has a hearing loss, you might be right. More than three million American children have hearing losses. An estimated 1.3 million of these are under three years of age. Parents and grandparents are usually the first to discover hearing loss in babies, because they spend the most time with them. If your child can be included in any of the following categories, they may be at risk for hearing loss:
- Birthweight less than 3.5 lbs.
- Jaundiced at birth.
- In neonatal intensive care unit.
- Received IV antibiotics.
- Had meningitis.
- Family history of hearing loss.
- Mother had German measles or viral infection during pregnancy.
- Mother drank alcoholic beverages during pregnancy.
Although the above criteria may place your child at higher risk for hear loss, 50% of babies born with hearing loss had none of the above risk factors. Therefore, it is important for parents to be alert to signs of hearing loss in their child. The following items are possible indicators of hearing loss:
Birth to Six Months:
- Does not startle, move, cry, or react in any way to unexpected loud noises.
- Does not awaken to loud noises.
- Does not freely imitate sound.
- Cannot be soothed by voice alone.
- Does not turn his or her head in direction of voice.
Six to Twelve Months:
- Does not point to familiar persons or objects when asked.
- Does not babble, or babbling has stopped.
- By twelve months, is not understanding simple phrases, such as:
“wave bye-bye,” “clap hands,” by listening alone.
What To Do If You Suspect Your Child Has Hearing Loss:
Have your child's hearing tested by an audiologist, and his or her speech evaluated by a speech-language pathologist. Your baby's hearing can be tested at any age. Computerized hearing tests such as otoacoustic emissions and auditory brainstem response make it possible to evaluate infants for hearing loss. Children as young as one or two can be conditioned to respond to speech and tones, and by age three to five, children can be evaluated using conventional adult testing techniques.
If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment to have your child evaluated, please contact Tri-State Otolaryngology at 522-6388.
Phillip R. Stevens, M.D.
Thomas M. Jung, M.D., Ph.D.
Mark F. Sheridan, M.D.
If you have any specific questions about the above article, please ask for:
Pamela V. Adkins, M.S., CCC-A
Audiologists
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