Treatment
A child with a congenital hearing loss should begin receiving treatment before 6 months of age. Studies suggest that children treated this early are usually able to develop communication skills (using spoken or sign language) that are as good as those of hearing peers.
In the United States of America, because of a Federal law (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), children with a hearing loss between birth and 3 years of age have the right to receive interdisciplinary assessment and early intervention services at little or no cost. After age 3, early intervention and special education programs are provided through the public school system.
There are a number of treatment options available, and parents will need to decide which are most appropriate for their child. They will need to consider the child’s age, developmental level and personality, the severity of the hearing loss, as well as their own preferences. Ideally a team of experts including the child’s primary care provider, an otolaryngologist, a speech-language pathologist, audiologist and an educator will work closely with the parents to create an Individualized Family Service Plan. Treatment plans can be changed as the child gets older.
Children as young as 4 weeks of age can benefit from a hearing aid. These devices amplify sound, making it possible for many children to hear spoken words and develop language. However, some children with severe to profound hearing loss may not be able to hear enough sound, even with a hearing aid, to make speech audible. A behind-the-ear hearing aid is often recommended for young children because it is safer and more easily fitted and adjusted as the child grows as compared to one that fits within the ear.
Parents also will need to decide how their family and child are going to communicate. If the child is going to communicate orally (speech), s/he may need assistance learning listening skills and lip reading skills to help her/him understand what others are saying. Many children with hearing loss also need speech or language therapy.
A child also can learn to communicate using a form of sign language. In the United States of America, the type preferred by most deaf adults is American Sign Language (ASL), which has rules and grammar that is distinct from English. There are also several variations of sign language that can be used along with spoken English which are standard in English-speaking countries outside the United States.
Surgery may be recommended if a child has a permanent conductive hearing loss caused by malformations of the outer or middle ear, or by repeated ear infections. Although fluid in the middle ear usually results in only temporary hearing loss, chronic ear infection can cause a child to fall behind in language skills. In some cases, a doctor may suggest inserting a tube through the eardrum to allow the middle ear to drain. This procedure generally does not require an overnight hospital stay.
Surgery also may be an option for some children with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. A device called a cochlear implant can be surgically inserted in the inner ear of children as young as 12 months of age to stimulate hearing. The surgery requires a hospital stay of one to several days. With additional language and speech therapy, children with cochlear implants may learn to understand speech and speak reasonably well, but the amount of improvement is variable.
Once a child is diagnosed, the immediate and anticipated reaction of the parents and immediate family is one of the denial. Doctors or the audiologists need to counsel the family, help them cope with the situation and encourage them to look forward to solutions to overcome the problem. Often when the family is told about the excellent options available for a hearing impaired child, the chances of acceptance are much better. Once the family accepts the handicap, half the battle is over and rehabilitation can begin.
The type of intervention required depends on several factors. Chief among these is the degree of impairment. When a child has a fair degree of residual hearing, the correct intervention would be fitting "optimised" hearing aids. "Optimisation" means fitting the child with a hearing aid appropriate to its degree of deafness.
Today a variety of good quality hearing aids are available – analog or digital body worn (for small children) or ear level for older children. When fitting a hearing aid, a competent audiologist has to assess the child's residual hearing, look at the hearing aid's performance and fit the child with an appropriate instrument. Equally important is the ear mould, which has to be custom made to suit the shape of the child's ear.
If a child has profound or even total deafness, it has very little or virtually no residual hearing. In such a case hearing aids do not make scientific sense. Such a child needs a different kind of treatment called Cochlear Implants which are a sets of electrodes implanted surgically into the inner ear.
Read more about this topic: Congenital Hearing Loss
Famous quotes containing the word treatment:
“[17th-century] Puritans were the first modern parents. Like many of us, they looked on their treatment of children as a test of their own self-control. Their goal was not to simply to ensure the child’s duty to the family, but to help him or her make personal, individual commitments. They were the first authors to state that children must obey God rather than parents, in case of a clear conflict.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)