Do you have a child of any age with a hearing loss?
Have you just found out your child has a hearing loss?
If you have a newborn, has he or she been screened for hearing loss?

 

Here is information and resources to help you make informed decisions about your child’s hearing loss. The choices are yours to make for your children, but gather all the information on possible options.

Children and Hearing Loss

  • Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) refers to the process of screening every newborn for hearing loss prior to hospital discharge, whereby infants not passing the screening receive appropriate diagnostic evaluation before three months of age and, when necessary, are enrolled in early intervention programs by six months of age.
  • Hearing screening is a test to tell if a child might have hearing loss. Hearing screening is easy and is not painful. In fact, babies are often asleep while being screened. It usually only a few minutes.
  • The earlier a hearing loss is detected and treated in infants the better the outcome for language and speech development. Find an audiologist who specializes in pediatrics and find out all you can about hearing aids and/or cochlear implants. 
  • In children, hearing loss can be confused with a learning disability when, in fact, the child might not be hearing clearly what the teacher is saying.
  • Even a mild hearing loss or a one-sided hearing loss can affect school work. Research has shown that on average, children with mild hearing loss perform poorer than their normally-hearing peers and may need to repeat a grade.
  • More than ever, young people are at risk for hearing loss because of repeated exposure to loud sounds from musical instruments, ear buds, and any personal listening device inserted in the ear. Any sort of sound can cause a permanent hearing loss if it is loud enough and lasts long enough.

Teaching Mainstreamed Students with Hearing Loss

Video for Parents, Teachers and Students
HLAA Member Zina Jawadi, produced a video for teachers and school staff who have students with hearing loss. She made the video when she was a senior in high school before she went to Stanford Univiesity. The video is open captioned. [View video]

Also view HLAA webinar with educational audiologist Kym Meyer, M.S., CCC-A, Wait – There’s a Student with Hearing Loss Coming into My Class?

Protecting Kids’ Hearing: Why it Matters

Get your children involved in their own hearing health. For more resources, go to: