If a person does not hear or hears poorly, then life becomes harder, especially for a child. It is important for children to hear, recognize the sounds of nature and spoken language. Children's ENT doctor will help to cope with a similar problem. He may prescribe a course of medications or prescribe other treatment. It is possible that the doctor will recommend special hearing aids for children. Without hearing, a child will not be able to fully develop.
It is worth noting that most deaf and hard of hearing children are born to parents who do not have such problems. For these families, the arrival of such a child can be a big surprise.
Speech
The speech of hearing-impaired children depends on many factors:
- Degree of hearing loss. That is, the worse he hears, the worse he speaks.
- From the period of occurrence of the defect. If hearing loss occurs after three years, then the baby may develop phrasal speech, but with some minor deviations in the grammatical structure,pronunciation. If the problem arose at school age, then errors usually occur in the slurred pronunciation of unstressed syllables, in the stunning of voiced consonants, etc.
- From the conditions in which the baby developed.
- From the mental and physical condition of the child.
The grammatical structure of speech in hearing-impaired children is not formed to the required degree.
What is meant by "learning characteristics" in children with similar problems?
A good solution for such a child would be a school for hearing-impaired children. The loss of this ability has critical implications for the development of children's cognitive (thinking) and linguistic (language) skills. The occurrence of other disorders in combination with hearing loss require additional features in learning. Hard of hearing and deaf children often have significant difficulties in learning, so you need to select a special approach to the learning process. The prevalence of other disabilities in addition to hearing loss is about three times higher (30.2%) among people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Causes of hearing loss in children
Why do children get hearing loss? As children's ENT doctors say, such a deviation can lead to:
- maternal rubella (2%),
- prematurity (5%),
- cytomegalovirus (1%),
- meningitis (9%).
It is logical to assume that the population with hearing problems is at high risk of additional impairments. Because, asthe previously mentioned etiologies are also known to be associated with neurological problems.
Disability
The most common types of disability reported in children who are deaf or hard of hearing are mental disabilities and emotional/behavioral disabilities. The prevalence of mental disorders caused by hearing loss is almost 8%. Associated emotional/behavioral disability was the smallest at 4% of cases. Students with comorbid emotional/behavioral disorders are characterized by displaying inappropriate, disruptive, aggressive behavior that interferes with the learning process.
Students with hearing loss and intellectual disabilities are characterized by a general developmental delay in all areas. They also have limited ability to solve problems, reduced adaptive or functional skills. Children who are disabled due to hearing loss tend to have an average or above average level of intelligence. They demonstrate skills and abilities in different ways, showing certain learning disabilities that limit their achievement. They have unusual behavior. These students are not doing well academically, compared to the documented parameters of conceptual learning found among students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
How are additional learning problems identified for special children?
Identification of additional learning problems in children with hearing lossis a complex and difficult task. Part of the difficulty comes from the fact that hearing loss itself creates learning problems, which usually result in delays in language comprehension and, as a result, in academic skills. Thus, identifying any other factors can present difficult problems. Rational assessment methods using interdisciplinary teams are important in identifying additional deficiencies in deaf or hard of hearing children. This is especially true when you consider that the characteristics exhibited by students with comorbid disabilities are often the same.
Who should work with children?
Permanent lack of language instruction, mental or emotional deficiencies, poor behavior, attention coordination difficulties, and learning disabilities all apply to children with hearing impairments. The following specialists are usually involved in working with such children: school psychologists, physiotherapists, audiologists and the necessary medical personnel (nurses, psychiatrists, etc.). The team of specialists should ensure that the results are carefully interpreted in accordance with the recommendations and suggestions for the educational program.
What questions should I ask when deciding whether to send a child for assessment?
Is the student deaf or hard of hearing and is the hearing loss progressive? This should be the first question when considering a grade for a student with similar problems. The researchers described the parameters of language learning andacademic progress commonly seen in people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Given the opportunity to learn through appropriate and effective ways of communicating, a student with this pathology should progress in expected growth patterns and achievements. If this does not happen, questions should be asked about the reasons.
The loss of this ability brings with it many problems that affect the learning of hearing-impaired children. However, deafness itself is not always accompanied by the following problems:
- attention deficit;
- perceptual-motor difficulties;
- failure to expand vocabulary;
- Persistent memory problems or consistent behavior when distracted or emotional factors.
If any of these behaviors characterize a student who is deaf or hard of hearing, the possible causes of these problems should be investigated.
What are the general strategies used to help children with hearing loss?
It is very difficult to define general strategies for these students. This is primarily because each individual learning profile will be different, depending on the number and nature of the various influencing factors. After some time spent looking for "correction" strategies, professionals are convinced that all students with hearing loss should have individualized approaches. It is really difficult for specialists in this field to match the assessment training profile with the correspondingeducational strategies to address identified issues. In general, some strategies may be helpful.
Let's take a look at them:
- Strategies for children with additional learning problems that include severe vocabulary deficits and simple syntax knowledge. This also includes working with images and graphic symbols to support speech will be useful.
- Education for deaf children is more often associated with sound processing or understanding. Students with disabilities will benefit from many of the oral rehabilitation methods used to improve their listening skills. Behaviors that include well-defined options will be effective. Addressing emotional factors through an educational program and individual or group counseling when needed will also work.
How to improve classroom performance?
Strategies to help improve classroom performance:
- The main focus should be on the visual perception of information. Visual perception by children with hearing impairment means the creation of a concrete idea at the first introduction of educational material. Then the child has a concrete idea of what is being discussed in the class. The teacher can move on to more abstract concepts of the topic. Many children with disabilities find it difficult to remember information during the learning process. Teachers must "make language visible"so that students who have hearing problems perceive the material well. When educators present information visually, students are more likely to remember the curriculum better and their retention levels improve as well.
- Vocabulary replenishment. In order for hearing-impaired children to understand new words, vocabulary must be presented in a variety of ways. The more attention is given to this, the more opportunities there are for memorizing and using words appropriately. For a child to remember information, it must be presented in multiple contexts. It should also be served in various most practical ways. To learn a new word, a child must first learn the context in which it is used. Once this is memorized, the teacher can start using the word in different situations throughout the day. Children with hearing loss will have an easier time remembering phrases that are used most frequently throughout the day.
