What are the Characteristics of a Hearing-Impaired Child🦻🏻||

What are the Characteristics of a Hearing-Impaired Child🦻🏻

Hearing plays an important role in student development and daily performance.  Hearing impairment occurs when there's a problem with or damage to one or more parts of the hearing mechanism.  It is identified as one of the ten most prevalent causes of disability in the United States.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1991) reported that five percent of children 18 years and under have hearing loss.  A student with a hearing impairment is part of a heterogeneous group whose one common characteristic is some degree of hearing loss.  To effectively teach students with hearing impairment, teachers need to become familiar with hearing-related concepts.  The purpose of this chapter is to briefly outline the nature of hearing impairment and provide you with useful current definitions.  The chapter will provide you with information on how we hear, how hearing is assessed, ways of identifying students with hearing impairments in the classroom and discuss their learning characteristics.  Some information on the several types of professionals who can be of assistance in diagnosing and educating students with hearing impairment will also be provided.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), defines “hearing impairment” and “deafness” separately.  Hearing impairment is defined as an “impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating that adversely affects a child’s educational performance.”  Deafness is defined as a “hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification.”

Components of the Ear

Outer Ear - Includes the externally visible part of the ear (pinna) and the ear canal.

1. Sound waves are received by the pinna from the environment.
2. Sound waves travel through the ear canal.
3. Sound waves make their way to the beginning of the middle ear called the eardrum (the thin membrane that separates the outer ear from the middle ear)

4. Includes the eardrum, ossicles, or three tiny bones(hammer/malleus; anvil/incus; stirrup/stapes) and Eustachian tube.

   1. Sound waves reach the eardrum.
   2. The eardrum begins to vibrate and makes the three tiny bones/ossicles move together.
   3. These bones help sound move into the inner ear.

   The middle ear is filled with air and for optimal hearing the air pressure inside the middle ear and outside of the ear needs to be the same.  The Eustachian tube connects the middle ear to the back of the nose.  The Eustachian tube helps keeps the air pressure in the middle ear equal to the air pressure in the environment.

5. Inner Ear - Includes a snail-shaped, fluid-filled structure called the cochlea, tiny hair cells (cilia), and the auditory nerve, which travels from the inner ear to the brain.

   1. The vibration of the sound waves causes the cilia to move.
   2. This movement creates electrical impulses or signals that are sent to the brain via the auditory nerve.
   3. The hearing centers in the brain interpret these signals as sound and help give them meaning

   4. A hearing impairment results when there is a problem in one or more components of the hearing mechanism.  When describing hearing impairment, three attributes are considered:

      1. Type of hearing loss -  part of the hearing mechanism that is affected
      2. Degree of hearing loss - range and volume of sounds that are not heard
      3. Configuration - range of pitches or frequencies at which the loss has occurred

      4.  Conductive Hearing Loss

         
         A conductive hearing impairment results from a blockage or damage to the outer or middle ear structures.  This problem interferes with the transmission of sound through the outer and middle ear to the inner ear, resulting in reduced loudness of the sound (quantity of sound). Conductive hearing loss can fluctuate according to the presence or severity of the blockage. During these periods of reduced hearing the student may miss out on learning, negatively affecting all aspects of development (Pagliano, 2005). Some of the common causes of conductive hearing impairment include excessive earwax (cerumen); middle ear infections (such as Otitis Media, where there is pus or fluid build-up or inflammation that causes pain and reduces the ability of the eardrum to vibrate); a hole or perforation of the eardrum; and otosclerosis (the eardrum and the ossicles have decreased mobility) (Scheetz, 2000). In many cases, a conductive hearing impairment can be corrected with medication, hearing aids, or surgery.