Each May, Better Hearing and Speech Month provides us with an opportunity to highlight the importance of communication and speech and language development, and getting your child’s hearing checked.
Can My Child Hear Me?
As parents of young children, we routinely monitor development for new milestones and behavior changes. What happens when things seem a bit off and your child is not reacting to you or the world around them? Running to a search engine can introduce worries you’d never imagined on your own. Instead of jumping immediately to a long list of possibilities, contact your pediatrician to share your concerns. They may suggest that your child get their hearing checked using a hearing test that is relatively simple and non-invasive.
Wasn’t My Child’s Hearing Tested When They Were Born?
A newborn hearing test is of course the first chance to learn that a child’s hearing could be a concern, but acquired hearing loss happens over time and can sometimes be overlooked in toddlers. Head trauma, exposure to loud noises, illness, or certain medical treatments can result in either temporary or permanent hearing loss. Depending on the type of loss and what caused it, ear tubes, surgery, or medication may restore a child’s hearing. Read on to see if your child’s hearing should be tested.
What Are Some of the Signs?
Hearing has an enormous effect on a child’s cognitive development, communication, and overall behavior. It is a major factor in how anyone interacts with the world. This is especially impactful in a child’s early years when they are constantly learning. Can you imagine going through your day only being able to hear about 60% of the sounds around you, but not even being aware of it? This is what some children may be experiencing.
Signs can look different at different ages, but here are a few examples:
- Newborn to 4 months old: your child should startle at loud sounds, respond to a familiar voice with a smile, and be able to calm down by a familiar voice.
- 4 to 9 months old: your child should begin to notice and respond to toys that have sounds, start to make babbling noises, and understand familiar motions like waving hi.
- 9 to 16 months old: your child should be starting to repeat simple sounds, respond to their name, and use their voice to get your attention.
If any of these milestones are not occurring by the time your child is a toddler, you should take your child to the pediatrician for an expert’s opinion.
Why Is My Child Having Difficulty With Their Hearing?
There could be a wide range of reasons why your child is having a hard time hearing. There are also different degrees of hearing loss. Some children have a slight hearing deficit, while others might experience mild or severe hearing loss. Hearing loss can affect both ears (bilateral) or only one ear (unilateral).
Congenital hearing loss refers to hearing loss that a child is born with. Close to 50 percent of congenital hearing loss in children is due to genetics, meaning it was passed down from the parents. It isn’t always present at birth and can show up later on in life. Premature birth is another common cause that is not genetic. Nervous system or brain disorders, drug or alcohol exposure during pregnancy, birth complications, and other factors can also contribute to congenital hearing loss.
Not all hearing loss is present at birth. Some reasons a child could develop hearing difficulty include serious head injury, early exposure to loud noises, untreated or frequent ear infections, a perforated eardrum, or illnesses such as measles, mumps, meningitis, or whooping cough. More common causes of temporary hearing loss include middle ear infections, swimmer’s ear, or impacted ear wax.
What to Do Now
After seeing a pediatrician or audiologist and understanding the cause (and severity) of hearing loss, the next steps will depend on your child’s specific situation. Treatment could range from removing a foreign object or wax plug in the ear canal to hearing aids, ear tubes, surgery, cochlear implants, or medication. Studies show that treating hearing loss in children sooner rather than later leads to significantly better outcomes in speech and language development.
What If My Child’s Hearing Is Fine?
The sooner you get results, the better the outcome will be for your child. If your child’s hearing is normal, then it’s time to keep searching for answers and understand what their behaviors may be communicating. Often, this is when a child is screened and potentially evaluated for a developmental delay or neurological diagnosis such as autism. Here at Ally, we have clinical psychologists who provide comprehensive diagnostic evaluations for young children. We are also equipped to treat children who are already diagnosed with autism with ABA therapy, speech and occupational therapy.
To learn more about our program and the services we offer, check out our full-service center model and review common questions on our FAQs page.