The sooner hearing loss is detected, the greater the chance that, as a result of treatment or surgical hearing aid, a preschooler will master speech and be able to improve and learn in accordance with the norm.
Classification of a child's hearing loss:
- hearing loss;
- deafness.
A deaf person does not hear the conversation of those around him and when using hearing aids. Children with deafness study in specialized organizations and schools. Deafness has four degrees in connection with the threshold of captured sounds. Poorly hearing the conversation of those around them hear with difficulty, need the use of hearing aids.
Pathogenesis
Without exception, hearing pathologies are divided into three categories:
- hereditary;
- natural;
- received.
Deafness, in turn, is divided into conductive, which is accompanied by pathologies of the sound-conducting system, and neurosensory, characterized by the fact that the sound-receiving system is damaged.
Unfavorable conditions that provoke the appearance of deafness and hearing loss are:
- heavymother's pregnancy in a given period of pathology of the neonatal stage;
- viral infections;
- infection;
- diseases of ENT organs;
- Use of toxic drugs during pregnancy, requiring early diagnosis of hearing in newborns.
Reaction to sounds in newborns occurs 2-3 weeks after birth. Cooing turns into babbling after 4-5 months. If the father and mother have doubts that the child does not respond to sounds, the cooing fades over time without switching to babbling, and speech development stops at a later age, parents must immediately inform their local pediatrician or otolaryngologist.
Reasons
Specialists talk about the following causes of pathology:
- Hearing impairment can be passed on from father, mother and other relatives. In addition, hearing problems can occur through several generations through recessive genes.
- Genetic disorders, various mutations. They can occur as a result of the wrong lifestyle of one or both parents, poor ecology, environmental pollution, as well as parental abuse of alcohol, nicotine or narcotic and psychotropic substances.
- Wrong lifestyle of the expectant mother during pregnancy. Smoking, alcohol, drugs, and in some cases eating unhe althy foods or being less active canlead to pathologies.
- Illnesses suffered during pregnancy can also affect the baby's hearing.
- Birth trauma, improperly performed caesarean can adversely affect the he alth of the newborn. Diseases and infections in the first months of life can adversely affect a child's hearing.
- Adenoids are a trifle that causes a lot of discomfort to the child and a lot of trouble to his parents. If adenoids are detected by an otolaryngologist, they must be removed in a timely manner, after which the child will have problems with the auditory organ.
Symptoms
Hearing impairment is very closely intertwined with a delay in intellectual or psychological development, because, not hearing most sounds and / or not being able to reproduce them, the child does not know how to adequately perceive the world, respond to certain things and simply communicate with peers.
To prevent further hearing loss and to prevent developmental abnormalities, it is necessary to contact a specialist as soon as possible. So, the symptoms of hearing loss in a child:
- In the first weeks and months of a newborn's life, it is extremely difficult to diagnose any disorders. Children develop in different ways, but if the baby has never reacted to the mother’s voice or flinched at loud noise within three to four weeks, you should contact your pediatrician.
- If up to five months the baby does not reproduce any sounds, then this is a dangerous symptom. Perhaps he is nothinghears.
- Again, if up to a year the baby does not try to say words, reproduce sounds similar to speech, this is a very bad symptom that speaks of hearing loss, deafness, in some cases, adenoids and developmental delay associated with all this.
- If a small child tries to make sounds by babbling or in any other way, but he has developmental delays or disabilities, you should consult a doctor (because developmental delay may occur due to hearing impairment).
- Requesting, responding only to loud speech are symptoms of hearing loss in older children.
Hearing loss
Hearing loss - loss of functionality of the hearing organs, directly related to the occurrence of certain difficulties in the perception of the human voice and associated with a reduction in vocabulary.
- The conductive type of hearing loss is directly related to the occurrence of obstacles to the perception and transmission of sound (sounds). The sounds of the surrounding world are not transmitted through the auditory canal from the middle inner ear. A common example: accumulation of earwax in the ear canal, deformity or trauma of the eardrum, development of inflammation in the ear canal.
- Sensorineural type of hearing loss is caused by a general decrease in the functionality of the hearing organs, due to the occurrence and development of diseases of the auditory nerve canal or one of the hearing departments in the human cerebral cortex. The root cause of this variety iscomplication of viral diseases (groups), development of pathological diseases of the cardiovascular system, systematic stay in stressful situations and nervous exhaustion, constant presence in a noisy environment.
- Mixed type of hearing loss is caused by the loss of functionality of the hearing organs in case of head injuries, after prolonged use of medications, complications of inflammatory processes in the hearing organs, ear diseases. A mixed type of hearing loss often manifests itself as a result of the impact on the hearing organs of vibrations and loud monotonous noises, after suffering hypertension, atherosclerosis. In old age, a mixed type of hearing loss is due to reduced blood supply to the hearing organs.
Deafness
Deafness is a decrease in the functioning of the hearing organs, in which the independent development of the speech apparatus is impossible. Deafness is a complex form of hearing impairment, as it often manifests itself in children from birth and carries a number of complications for the social adaptation of children. The occurrence of deafness occurs due to genetic heredity or the appearance of pathologies in the perinatal period of the baby's development.
Pathologies of phonemic hearing in babies
Disturbance of phonemic hearing in children is called dyslalia. With this disease, a person cannot pronounce sounds correctly, while they mix, and this is somewhat reminiscent of the speech of a three-year-old child. But the children of thisage, such speech is considered the norm. You can talk about the disease if the speech does not change after reaching the age of four.
The main signs of phonemic hearing impairment in children are:
- replacing sounds;
- skipping sounds in your speech or rearranging them;
- weak separation of sounds (there is often a replacement of "sh" with "s").
Causes of dyslalia
The reasons for the violation may be:
- immunodeficiency;
- infectious diseases;
- thyroid problems;
- bad social influence;
- poor example (parents with speech impediments).
Diagnosis of hearing impairment in a child is carried out by several specialists. Treatment of dyslalia should be carried out in a complex manner. In addition to neurologists, parents, teachers and speech therapists take part. Various drugs stimulate the brain and increase memory capacity.
Most often, doctors prescribe "Pantogam" to increase efficiency and stimulate the central nervous system. To relieve tension and improve sleep, "Glycine", "Phenibut" is prescribed - to eliminate the feeling of fear, "Cortexin" is used in the presence of head injuries. You also need to adjust your diet. At this time, according to existing methods, phonemic hearing is developing.
Treatment of hearing pathology in babies
Treatment of hearing impairment in a child occurs using the following methods:
- Pharmaceuticals.
- Established methods of audiological and speech therapy character.
- Constant listening and speech development exercises.
- Using hearing aids.
- Advice from a psychoneurologist to stabilize the nervous system and psychological sphere of babies.
Speech therapy work
Speech therapy for hearing impaired children in preschool educational institutions plays an important role, since hearing-impaired children have speech pathologies associated with pronunciation. Speech therapists conduct training in such a way as to improve articulation and achieve natural pronunciation of words and phrases. At the same time, a variety of speech therapy technologies of a general nature are used and specially selected, taking into account the individual characteristics of babies.
There are several procedures that are used in pathologies of the auditory canal in order to improve its functioning. These include specialized breathing exercises, as well as with the tongue, jaws, lips, smile and puffing out of the cheeks.
Prevention
The most common causes of hearing loss in children are heredity, negative environmental factors, poor parental lifestyle and past illnesses.
Based on this list, conclusions can be drawn on how to protect the child from hearing problems. Nothing can be done about heredity - you can only protect the child by undergoing frequent medical examinations and timely diagnosticsviolations.
When planning a child, it is also necessary to take care of his he alth, that is:
- start a he althy lifestyle;
- drink vitamins;
- register with a family planning center;
- get tested.
Other measures
In order not to injure the auricle of a newborn, it is necessary to properly clean the ears. Do not clean your ears too often - this can be harmful, since small amounts of earwax protect the ear from the aggressive environment.
When the baby grows up, it is necessary to teach him how to properly clean his ears and control this process for at least a few months.
Protect your child from getting water in their ears while taking a bath, shower or swimming in a pond. Supervise the child while playing - do not let him put small sharp objects in his ears.
Timely vaccinations are indirect protection against speech hearing impairment in a child (because many vaccinations prevent the development of diseases that give complications to the hearing aid).
And most importantly, as already indicated, at the slightest suspicion, immediately contact a specialist. After all, it is much easier to cure a disease at an early stage than its advanced form.
