HEARING IMPAIRMENT
What is hearing impairment?
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defined hearing impairment as “an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance but is not included under the definition of 'deafness."
According to World Health Organization (WHO), a person who is not able to hear as well as someone with normal hearing – hearing thresholds of 25 dB or better in both ears – is said to have hearing loss. Hearing loss may be mild, moderate, severe, or profound. It can affect one ear or both ears, and leads to difficulty in hearing conversational speech or loud sounds.
'Deaf' people mostly have profound hearing loss, which implies very little or no hearing. They often use sign language for communication.
What is hearing impairment?
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defined hearing impairment as “an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance but is not included under the definition of 'deafness."
According to World Health Organization (WHO), a person who is not able to hear as well as someone with normal hearing – hearing thresholds of 25 dB or better in both ears – is said to have hearing loss. Hearing loss may be mild, moderate, severe, or profound. It can affect one ear or both ears, and leads to difficulty in hearing conversational speech or loud sounds.
'Deaf' people mostly have profound hearing loss, which implies very little or no hearing. They often use sign language for communication.
What are the symptoms of children with hearing impairment?
During infancy:
During childhood:
● Delayed response to sound
● Cannot hear clearly what others are saying
● Show difficulty in locating the sound source
● Pay more than usual attention to speakers’ facial expression and lip movement while listening
● Give irrelevant answers or misinterpret instructions
● Request for repetition during conversation
● Show poorer ability to understand speech ` in a noisy environment
● Incorrect pronunciation
● Delayed language development
● Poor attention in class
● Frequent use of gestures to express themselves, e.g. pointing to what they want
● Delayed response to sound
● Cannot hear clearly what others are saying
● Show difficulty in locating the sound source
● Pay more than usual attention to speakers’ facial expression and lip movement while listening
● Give irrelevant answers or misinterpret instructions
● Request for repetition during conversation
● Show poorer ability to understand speech ` in a noisy environment
● Incorrect pronunciation
● Delayed language development
● Poor attention in class
● Frequent use of gestures to express themselves, e.g. pointing to what they want
What causes hearing impairment?
How does hearing impairment affect children’s development?
Language
● Delayed language development with unclear speech and incorrect pronunciation. Emotion and behaviour
● Easy to have emotional and behavioral problems as a result of difficulties in verbally expressing himself/ herself
Self-confidence
● Lack of self-confidence with poor self-image for being always mistaken to be slow in response Social interaction
● Socially excluded by peers due to poor comprehension and expression, or actively avoid social contact and communication Academic performance
● Academic performance being affected due to difficulty in receiving the correct messages
* The impact of hearing impairment on the child is determined by a variety of factors. Generally speaking, early treatment and training can help to minimize the developmental problems caused by hearing impairment.
● Delayed language development with unclear speech and incorrect pronunciation. Emotion and behaviour
● Easy to have emotional and behavioral problems as a result of difficulties in verbally expressing himself/ herself
Self-confidence
● Lack of self-confidence with poor self-image for being always mistaken to be slow in response Social interaction
● Socially excluded by peers due to poor comprehension and expression, or actively avoid social contact and communication Academic performance
● Academic performance being affected due to difficulty in receiving the correct messages
* The impact of hearing impairment on the child is determined by a variety of factors. Generally speaking, early treatment and training can help to minimize the developmental problems caused by hearing impairment.
Can hearing impairment be cured?
This depends on which part of the auditory system is affected. If the impairment is incurable, the child may need to use a hearing aid or receive a cochlear implant, depending on the nature of the lesion. With the help of appropriate auditory and speech training, even children with severe hearing impairment could gradually show improvement in response to sound.
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION
Hearing loss or deafness does not affect a person’s intellectual capacity or ability to learn. However, children who are hard of hearing or deaf generally require some form of special education services in order to receive an adequate education. Such services may include:
Children who are hard of hearing will find it much more difficult than children who have normal hearing to learn vocabulary, grammar, word order, idiomatic expressions, and other aspects of verbal communication. For children who are deaf or have severe hearing losses, early, consistent, and conscious use of visible communication modes (such as sign language, fingerspelling, and Cued Speech) and/or amplification and aural/oral training can help reduce this language delay.
By age four or five, most children who are deaf are enrolled in school on a full-day basis and do special work on communication and language development. Parents work with school personnel to develop an individualized education program (IEP) that details the child’s special needs and the services and supports that will be provided to meet those needs. IDEA requires that the IEP team address the communication needs of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing.
It is important for teachers and audiologists to work together to teach the child to use his or her residual hearing to the maximum extent possible, even if the preferred means of communication is manual. Since the great majority of deaf children (over 90%) are born to hearing parents, programs should provide instruction for parents on implications of deafness within the family.
People with hearing loss use oral or manual means of communication or a combination of the two. Oral communication includes speech, lip reading, and the use of residual hearing. Manual communication involves signs and fingerspelling. Total Communication, as a method of instruction, is a combination of the oral method plus signing and fingerspelling.
- regular speech, language, and auditory training from a specialist;
- amplification systems;
- services of an interpreter for those students who use sign language;
- favorable seating in the class to facilitate lip reading;
- captioned films/videos; and
- instruction for the teacher and peers in alternate communication methods, such as sign language; and counseling.
Children who are hard of hearing will find it much more difficult than children who have normal hearing to learn vocabulary, grammar, word order, idiomatic expressions, and other aspects of verbal communication. For children who are deaf or have severe hearing losses, early, consistent, and conscious use of visible communication modes (such as sign language, fingerspelling, and Cued Speech) and/or amplification and aural/oral training can help reduce this language delay.
By age four or five, most children who are deaf are enrolled in school on a full-day basis and do special work on communication and language development. Parents work with school personnel to develop an individualized education program (IEP) that details the child’s special needs and the services and supports that will be provided to meet those needs. IDEA requires that the IEP team address the communication needs of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing.
It is important for teachers and audiologists to work together to teach the child to use his or her residual hearing to the maximum extent possible, even if the preferred means of communication is manual. Since the great majority of deaf children (over 90%) are born to hearing parents, programs should provide instruction for parents on implications of deafness within the family.
People with hearing loss use oral or manual means of communication or a combination of the two. Oral communication includes speech, lip reading, and the use of residual hearing. Manual communication involves signs and fingerspelling. Total Communication, as a method of instruction, is a combination of the oral method plus signing and fingerspelling.
Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)
Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Beethoven was as we know a great source of confidence for himself and for others, being able to create music and play music even after being completely deaf is by itself quite a miracle. Although it was clear to everyone that beethoven was but a man, he conquered his disability and led himself to being one of the greatest musicians of all time. If there was one thing that was affecting his struggle to succeed it was not only being deaf, but having to fight all the emotions that he felt inside when he had to turn around to look at the audience applause because he could not hear.
Stereotypes and Misconceptions about Deafness
1. All deaf people sign
2. Hearing aids make you hear normally
3. The majority of deaf people cannot speak
4. A cochlear implant restores hearing
5. All deaf people speak funny
6. Deaf people cannot drive
7. All deaf people lipread
8. If you shout, it helps a deaf person understand
9. Deaf people are not as intelligent as hearing people
10. All deaf people are completely and totally deaf
11. All deaf people understand and participate in Deaf Culture
12. Deaf people read braille
13. Deaf people cannot have children
2. Hearing aids make you hear normally
3. The majority of deaf people cannot speak
4. A cochlear implant restores hearing
5. All deaf people speak funny
6. Deaf people cannot drive
7. All deaf people lipread
8. If you shout, it helps a deaf person understand
9. Deaf people are not as intelligent as hearing people
10. All deaf people are completely and totally deaf
11. All deaf people understand and participate in Deaf Culture
12. Deaf people read braille
13. Deaf people cannot have children
Dactylology (Finger Spelling)
Finger spelling, also known as dactylology is manual representation of written letters according to manual alphabets which in turn are based on the standard alphabets. Representation of the letters with hand movements is a part of sign language of the deaf communities worldwide.
ACTIVITY
HANDY WORDY!
Figure out the famous quotes below.
Figure out the famous quotes below.
References:
https://signsoflifeasl.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/audism/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCKAJ_H0rPw
https://signsoflifeasl.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/audism/
https://signsoflifeasl.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/audism/
http://www.pfdeaf.org.ph/pfd/index.html
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs300/en/
http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/hearingloss/
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/multimedia/15900
https://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/famous-deaf.shtml
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Vbn6FujQs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCKAJ_H0rPw
https://signsoflifeasl.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/audism/
https://signsoflifeasl.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/audism/
http://www.pfdeaf.org.ph/pfd/index.html
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs300/en/
http://www.parentcenterhub.org/repository/hearingloss/
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/multimedia/15900
https://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/famous-deaf.shtml
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Vbn6FujQs