~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Editor:
bhNEWS editor Bob MacPherson points out that infant hearing screening is
all well and good, but that intervention following a diagnosis of hearing
loss is also required. Here's Bob with a couple of great resources that
promote screening AND intervention.
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We used to
talk about NHS, Newborn Hearing Screening and NIHS, Newborn Infant
Screening. But then, what happened after the screening, by whatever name?
That's
where the problems began in some cases. What about the intervention, once
we know that a child is affected by hearing loss?
And so,
the new acronym is EHDI, Early Hearing Detection and Intervention! And you
can get all the details on your state and the programs in place there at
http://www.infanthearing.org/screening/index.html
Plus some
superb information for download!
Another
good resource on this topic from ASHA @
http://www.asha.org/about/legislation-advocacy/state/bill_status.htm
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November 2006
This
book was written for parents, siblings and extended family members who
want a better understanding of the impact hearing loss can have in their
young loved one. Hearing loss in children can have more
devastating effects than in adults because it can impair the ability to
learn vocabulary, grammar, word order, idiomatic expressions and other
aspects of verbal communication. This book is a guide on how to address
the most important educational issues and processes through the school
years, including legal rights and legislation. It also addresses the
profound emotional impact hearing loss can have on a child and how it
can affect the entire family dynamic, and what to do about it. More
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 2007
With all the different decisions parents need to
make after discovering their child has a hearing loss, Aguilar advises
focusing on the most obvious and most important decision first. "We push
communication first-how do you want to communicate with your child?" she
says. "We explain the different options so that they understand them and
understand that they can change their minds. It's important to make a
decision that's good for your child and your family." For two families
with deaf children in the Chicago area, the Strecks and the Bussas of
Villa Park, the question had two different answers. The Streck family
opted to go with Total Communication, which includes sign language, for
their daughters while the Bussas went with oral communication. Both
options have their drawbacks and advantages and both have had a dramatic
impact on the lives of these families.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 2007
Researchers at Boys Town National Research Hospital have concluded that a
restricted listening bandwidth (below 6-7 kHz) can negatively affect
children's perception of /s/ and /z/ sounds when spoken by female talkers
like mothers and other female caregivers. The paper by Patricia
Stelmachowicz, Dawna Lewis, Sangsook Choi, and Brenda Hoover appears in
the August edition of Ear and Hearing. Stelmachowicz and Boys Town
researchers, including Mary Pat Moeller, have been at the forefront of a
sometimes-contentious debate regarding the possible need for children to
require increased high and/or low frequency gain compared to adults. In
pediatric audiology, adult data are often extrapolated to apply to
children. However, adults can miss much of the high frequencies in
meaningful speech, and still fill in the gaps; with children who have not
fully acquired speech and language understanding, that reduction of
high-frequency signals may have a larger negative impact. For example, the
/s/ sound of an average female speaker can be at 9 kHz, and until recently
few hearing instruments have come close to amplifying that frequency
region. If it can be shown that it makes sense to provide audibility in
this high frequency range, then manufacturers may have something more to
work toward.
Full Story
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September 2007
Parents who ask Baby Boomers or more elderly
grandparents to care for their children for part of the day should be sure
that the caregivers can hear well to assure that their children will be
safe. "There is a direct correlation between a caregiver's ability to
hear, and the safety of the baby-sitting environment for the children,"
says Sergei Kochkin, PhD, executive director of the nonprofit educational
organization, the Better Hearing Institute (BHI), Alexandria, Va. With the
start of school, many parents rely on family members to watch their
children after school or on weekends. "If your child's babysitter is one
of the 24 million people who need hearing aids and don't have them, there
could be serious problems," Kochkin warns. "The risks of not hearing a
smoke or carbon monoxide detector could be fatal, as they have been for
some. Not hearing weather warnings could expose them, and your children,
to a flood, tornado, or hurricane. Spending too much time speech reading
while driving can cause a crash, as can failing to hear a siren.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 2007
Earlier in this research series on the hearing
loss population,1 it was determined that there were 1.2 million children
ages 0 to 17 in the United States: 1) whose parents admitted that their
children had "hearing difficulties," and that 2) the children did not use
amplification. Additionally, using the Better Hearing Institute (BHI)
MarkeTrak VII database, it is estimated that there are another 300,000
dependents ages 18 to 21 with unamplified hearing loss. Thus, we estimate
that about 1.5 million dependents ages 0 to 21 have a hearing problem but
are currently not users of hearing aids. With hearing aid adoption rates
at only 12% for the pediatric population (ie, individuals younger than age
18),1 it is important to explore this issue further. Few would disagree
that, for optimum development, "every child with hearing loss has a basic
human right to communication access."
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 2007
Injury is the leading cause of death in children
in the United States. It has been suggested that children with sensory
disabilities (blindness or deafness) may be at increased risk of injuries,
but there has been little research in this area. Based on South Carolina
Medicaid data, this study examines rates of emergency department and
hospital treatment for injury in children with hearing loss. Children with
hearing loss receive emergency department and/or hospital treatment for
injuries at a significantly higher rate than do children without a
disability. Rates of injury in children with hearing loss are more than
twice as high as those without a disability. This may be due to reduced
ability to recognize danger clues or to hear a parent's warning.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 2007
It took more than two years and a series of
unpleasant tests before University of Chicago specialists could even
settle on a diagnosis for Angeliki. High frequency hearing loss in both
ears, the verdict came, with progressive degeneration possible but not
certain. No discernible reason for the loss was found, and surgical
intervention was not an option. Angeliki would be fitted with hearing aids
in both ears. As I retrospectively considered my little girl's life and
personality, the diagnosis explained a lot. For one thing, Angeliki had
the loudest voice of any child I had ever known. Nevertheless, she didn't
talk much. She was a little slower to speak than other kids, and what she
did say was difficult to comprehend. Although Angeliki was gregarious and
outgoing, socially she struggled because she couldn't seem to interact
well in a group. And she had a bizarre reaction to the kinds of noises
most of us know to ignore. An engine roaring in the street, the neighbor
running a power saw, a vacuum cleaner going upstairs -- these frightened
her deeply. She would run and jump into my arms, a look of terror on her
face: "What dat noise?!" She seemed unable to sort out meaningless noise
or determine what was supposed to be important for her. She could not
gauge what should or should not be frightening. Most of all, she was an
extremely defiant, independent little girl. I referred to this
affectionately as her "screw-you" attitude toward life: She would not be
moved by any persuasion; she responded with the taciturnity of a boulder
to basic requests; and with a steely-eyed gaze and expressionless silence,
she would flatly refuse to do what I asked. Or then again, maybe she just
never heard me. I already knew that to get her attention I had to hold her
little chin and look right into her eyes. What I didn't know was the
extent to which she was reading my lips all along. And so, the hearing
aids. Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 2008
After retiring from my full-time position as a
college professor, I have continued working in the nursery. For 42 years I
have interacted with parents of newly diagnosed children with hearing loss
and helped them come to grips with their reality. I have felt privileged
to be a part of the process. From the vantage point of this program, I
also have been able to witness the incredible changes in early childhood
deafness. At this stage in life, summing up becomes important. Based on my
experiences, here are 10 considerations (not in order of importance) for
early-intervention professionals to apply in addressing childhood hearing
loss:
Full Story
