Prelingual Deafness - Social & Cognitive Impact

Social & Cognitive Impact

Children who are prelingually deaf and cannot hear noise beneath 60 decibels, which is about the intensity level of a vacuum cleaner, will not be capable of developing oral language to that of their peers. Children born with profound hearing impairment, 90 decibels and above (about the level of a food blender), are classified as functionally deaf. These children will not develop speech and language skills without help from a speech pathologist. Such children will acquire language comprehension difficulties, even when other modes of language (such as writing and signing) are up to their age level standard. Generally, prelingual deaf individuals have reading levels that do not exceed the level of a fourth grader's. Children who lose their hearing after they have acquired some amount of language, even if it is just for a short while, demonstrate a much higher level of linguistic achievement than those who have not had any language exposure.

In children, this type of hearing loss can lead to social isolation for several reasons. First, the child experiences delayed social development that is in large part tied to delayed language acquisition. It is also directly tied to their inability to pick up auditory social cues. This can result in a deaf person becoming generally irritable. A child who uses sign language, or identifies with the Deaf culture does not generally experience this isolation, particularly if he/she attends a school for the deaf, but may conversely experience isolation from his parents if they do not know, or make an effort to learn sign language. A child who is exclusively or predominantly an oral communicator can experience social isolation from his or her hearing peers, particularly if no one takes the time to explicitly teach them social skills that other children acquire independently by virtue of having normal hearing.