|
What is Hearing
Impairment?
 Hearing impairment happens when there is a problem with one or more
parts
of the ear (or ears) and it prevents a person from hearing properly. Impairment
is a word that means something is not working correctly or as well as
it should. You may also hear the words "deaf," "deafness," "hard of hearing,"
or "hearing loss" when people talk about hearing impairment.
Hearing impairment
may affect one or both ears, and a person may be able to hear some sounds
or nothing at all. About two out of 100 babies are born with hearing impairment.
Six out of 100 school-age kids develop some kind of hearing loss.
Conductive
- hearing impairment
It happens when there is a problem with a part
of the outer or middle ear. If the outer ear canal, eardrum, hammer, anvil,
stirrup, or other parts of the middle ear aren't doing their jobs correctly,
it can cause this kind of hearing impairment. Most kids with conductive
hearing impairment have a mild hearing loss and it is usually temporary
because medical treatment can usually help.
Sensory - hearing
impairment
It happens when the cochlea is not working correctly because
the tiny hair cells in the cochlea are damaged or destroyed. It can affect
one ear or both ears. Depending on the loss, a kid may be able to hear
most sounds but they would be muffled (a mild loss), some sounds slightly
(a moderate loss), or no sounds at all (a severe to profound loss), and
because of this, a kid's ability to talk may be affected. Sensory hearing
impairment is almost always permanent and may get worse.
Mixed hearing
impairment
is a combination of conductive and sensory hearing impairment.
Neural - hearing
impairment happens when there is a problem with the connection from
the cochlea to the brain. If the nerve (neural means related to nerves)
that carries the messages from the cochlea to the brain is damaged, there
may be a neural hearing impairment.
What Causes Hearing
Impairment?
 A
kid with conductive hearing impairment may have been born with malformed
parts of his outer or middle ear. Sometimes a tiny hole in the eardrum
or even a buildup of wax in the ear canal can cause conductive hearing
impairment. Ear infections or middle ear fluid are also a common cause
of this kind of hearing loss in kids.
Sensory hearing
impairment can be caused by heredity or genes. Genes are what you inherit
from your parents, and they determine everything about you, from your
height to your skin color. Sometimes sensory hearing impairment happens
while an unborn baby is still growing: if a pregnant woman gets certain
kinds of diseases, this can cause the developing baby to become hearing
impaired. There are also some serious infections that can cause sensory
hearing impairment in kids. Some tools or severe injury to the head can
also be a cause. This type of hearing loss can be caused by listening
to music that is too loud or being around other loud noise (like the noise
at a car race or from firecrackers) a lot, so that should always be avoided.
|
