A typical hearing child starts saying two syllable words by 11-12 months age. A child with a hearing device can be expected to say such words after 7 or 8 months from the time the child starts to wear a hearing device. The device has to be worn throughout the waking hours of the child.
Three months, because the recommendation to confirm the diagnosis of hearing loss is by this age.
A typical hearing person keeps hearing involuntarily and gets stimulation. Similarly, a child with a hearing device should also get speech stimulation throughout all the waking hours.
A typical hearing child starts to hear even from mother’s womb from 27 weeks. After birth, the child keeps hearing sounds. Family members keep saying something to the child though they know that the child doesn’t understand. But this speech around is repeated, maybe some thousands of times, and is recorded in the child’s brain. Then at an appropriate age, the child starts to reproduce whatever is already recorded in the brain. A child with hearing loss misses all this speech input. The longer the diagnosis takes, the more the child misses. After the child gets the hearing device, the missed speech has to be given to the child. It is possible only through talking – continuously repeating to give the vocabulary and the language that they missed and which is needed to hear in order to speak.
It is difficult to say yes or no. If a child has mild hearing loss, it may be possible to avoid. Otherwise, it is extremely unlikely that the child can avoid learning lip reading. Lip reading augments hearing through the device and gives confidence to the child. If someone speaks from a distance of say more than 10 feet, it is difficult for the child to pick up the sound and lip reading helps.
It depends on the age at which the child got the cochlear implant and on whether it is unilateral (one ear only) or bilateral (both ears). There is no harm in learning lip reading. It is a skill, not a sin and nothing to be ashamed of.
Not at all. Cochlear implant is better than hearing aid. Natural hearing is involuntary, no training is needed to hear. But in the case of hearing aid and cochlear implant, a child needs to be trained to hear. With improvements in technology, the devices have become digital and programmable. This enhances the child’s ability to hear many sounds. But the child using a device has to be taught to relate a sound to its source.
Yes. The earlier the better. The World Health Organization (WHO) says ‘catch them young’.
The important factors are: Age of identification, threshold of hearing loss (mild-moderate-severe-profound), type of hearing aid or cochlear implant fitted, training given, speech correction done. If the child is able to hear his/her own voice, then speech correction happens well, and clarity improves. Good quality hearing aids and cochlear implants help improve speech clarity.
Many parents tend to focus on speech clarity, rather than speech ability and language. A child with hearing loss should first be trained to ‘speak’, that is, express her/his thoughts, learn about everything around them and achieve all-round development by age 6, on par with a typical hearing child of same age. Improving speech clarity is a continuous process that keeps happening with the growth of the child. Keep taking guidance from professionals after the child leaves the special preschool. Changing to better quality hearing devices also help improve speech clarity.
The children can study anything. Please go through the websites of the institutions in India. Their alumni are doctors, scientists, engineers, and management graduates. Take extra care during the first five years of school. Make the child sit in the front rows. Talk to the teachers to face the child and teach. Encourage the child to seek clarifications from the teacher, in or out of classroom.
Reading. Imbibe the habit of reading. It helps the children immensely.
Yes. The school should include the child in all their activities. Don’t under-expect. Keep encouraging. The child need not win medals. Participation is more important. It helps to learn many things.
Yes. They can play all the games. They can become good sports persons and athletes.
Yes. Take adequate care of the hearing devices and follow the instructions given.
It depends on the extent of hearing loss and the effort the child-parents can put in. If the child’s early intervention-cum-preschool is in the mother tongue, the child has to learn English later. Many children are doing it. Please take advice of the institution where the child received listening and spoken language training.
Yes. The alumni of institutes in India lived in hostels and shared accommodations during their higher education. They all lived and learnt in the company of typical hearing persons. It takes only a few interactions for anyone to get familiar and move along.
It depends on the threshold of hearing loss. There are persons with mild to moderate hearing loss who are able to follow. The advancements in technology and training from childhood may enable hearing audio over telephone or mobile phone.
It may be difficult. That is why closed-captioning (CC) or subtitles help.
Even typical people find it difficult to follow conversations in such an environment. It is advisable to speak from a closer distance.
Performance in the regular school gets recognition and friends. Go out of protective zone and seek friendship. At home, allow your child to play with children in the neighborhood. Invite children to your home to increase familiarity with your child. Meet parents of other children and classmates. Children do not have inhibitions and their friendship develops and blooms. Don’t try to hide the hearing aid from the view of others. Accept the hearing aid and let the child also accept. It is the ear of the child, a part of the body.
It is likely that the child is trained in a language other than the one the family speaks. In get-togethers, family functions like marriages, people usually speak in their mother tongue. If the child does not know the mother tongue, the feeling of exclusion will certainly be there. Siblings and close relatives should always remember to converse with the child and keep her/him engaged in the language which the child understands.
contacting while child is not wearing hearing device like in washroom, in darkness during nights?
> Flick the bathroom light
> Switch on the light in the room, go near and tap on the child
when living alone and, getting up early?
responding to visitors at closed door – doorbell cannot be heard?
> use alarms that vibrate strongly – repeat alarms with short gaps.
> advise the visitors to inform by messaging over phone, give a missed call.
In India, the cochlear implant provider arranges Auditory Verbal Therapy usually for one year and in the case of Government schemes, for two years. It is for one hour per day. The idea is that the parents continue to practice at home as instructed by the therapist. The parents and the child will be immensely benefited by the Early Childhood Special Teachers and experienced mothers available at the preschool by the methodical and normative training there. It is for 5 to six hours a day, for two to three years decided on a case-to-case basis. Teachers work with the child at the preschool and parents, usually mother, continue at home. Parents are not alone and get support from the preschool’s systematic training. One should note that it is not forever. It is an investment the parents have to make for the development of their child. There is nothing to be ashamed of. As parents take help of hearing aids or cochlear implants, they also take help from preschool for the good of the child, that too for a very short period in a long life.
Age of the child and the threshold of hearing loss are important factors. The need keeps changing as the child grows and recognizes more and more sounds. The requirement for suppressing background noise should also be taken care of. There are many brands of hearing aids in the market. Audiologists dispense hearing aids. One should learn about the ranges of hearing aids and their suitability. One may have to consult three or more audiologists to buy a suitable hearing aid.
It is shocking news. Parents feel that their world came crumbling down. They are not ready to accept it. Elderly family members do not believe. They say it is never heard of in their family history and say the diagnosis is incorrect. They deny. Usually, the mother is blamed for it. No help is sought from others. They hide it from others. The child is shielded
from the outside world. But the parents have to accept the fact. They must take responsibility and seek help without wasting time.