REPORTER: ANNA FE B.

TINAY

HEARING IMPAIRMENT

A hearing impairment is a hearing loss that prevents a person from totally receiving sounds
through the ear. If the loss is mild, the person has difficulty hearing faint or distant speech.
A person with this degree of hearing impairment may use a hearing aid to amplify sounds.
If the hearing loss is severe, the person may not able to distinguish any sounds.

Types of Hearing Impairment/ Loss:

Conductive
Caused by diseases or obstructions in the outer or middle ear that usually affects all
frequencies of hearing. A hearing aid generally helps a person with a conductive
hearing loss.
Sensorineural
Results from damage to the inner ear. This loss can range from mild to profound
and often affects certain frequencies more than others. Sounds are often distorted,
even with a hearing aid.
Mixed
Occurs in both the inner and outer or middle ear.

Central
Results from damage to the central nervous system.

Specific Symptoms and Characteristic of a Child with Hearing Loss

Speech Delays
Delays in the development of speech and language are classic symptoms of hearing and
deafness in children.
Children who do not say single words by age 1 or two-word phrases by age 2
might suffer from hearing loss.
Children with poor hearing might unable to communicate because they cannot
understand or imitate spoken language.

Communication Difficulties
Children with mild and moderate hearing impairment may develop speech and
language at roughly the same time as their peers. However, they might still struggle
to communicate and speak normally.
Children with hearing impairment might manifest language-related symptoms such as
responding inappropriately to questions or experiencing difficulty articulating them.

Selective Hearing
Although it is relatively normal for children to tune out some statements or
commands from adults in authority, many children who seem to ignore their parents
are unable to hear them.
Hearing-impaired children are often unable to hear their names when called, and their
behavior can be mistakenly labeled as inattention or behavioral misconduct.
Impact on Learning

Social Development
Social-emotional development relies so heavily on communication; the students with
hearing impairment may not participate in cooperative play or learning activities.

Intelligence
Individuals with hearing impairments have normal cognitive ability, in the absence of any
coexisting disability. Any difficulties in performance appear to be closely associated with
speaking, reading and writing not the level of intelligence.

Speech and Language

Speech and language skills are the areas of development most severely affected for those
with a hearing impairment, particularly for children who are born deaf.

Educational Achievement
Students with a hearing impairment have considerable difficulty succeeding in an
educational system that depends primarily on the spoken word and written language to
transmit knowledge.

Educational Challenges

Educational obstacles related to hearing impairments stem around communication. A

student with a hearing impairment may experience difficulty in:

The subjects of grammar, spelling and vocabulary

Taking notes while listening to lectures
Participating in classroom discussions
Watching education videos
Presenting oral reports

People with hearing impairment can communicate using numerous methods, such as:

American Sign Language (ASL)

This is the primary language of people who are deaf. It consists of a combination of hand
movements and positions to express thoughts and phrases.
Finger spelling
This is a manual form of communication in which the hand and fingers spell out letters of
the alphabet to form words.
Lip reading
This is a difficult skill used only by about 10% of people with hearing impairment.
Therefore, dont assume that a deaf person to whom you are speaking can lip read. Even
if a person cannot read lip, however, being allowed to see the speakers mouth provides
helpful visual cues.
Written Communication (Pad and Pencil)
This is a fairly simple way to communicate with a person who is deaf. Remember, that
sign language for most persons who are deaf, English is a second language, so keep your
words simple.
 Oral Communication
Early Intervention:

Regular speech, and auditory training from a specialist

The use of amplification systems
Services of an interpreter for those students who use one or more visual communication modes
Favorable seating in the class to facilitate speech reading
Captioned films or videos
The assistance of a note taker who takes written notes so that the student with a hearing loss can
fully attend to instruction
Instruction for the teacher and peers in alternate communication methods such as sign language

People with hearing loss use oral or manual means of communication or a

combination of two:
Oral communication includes speech, speech reading and the use of residual hearing
Manual communication involves sign language, finger spelling, and cued speech
Total communication as a method of instruction is a combination of the oral method plus
sign language, finger spelling and cued speech

Modern Technology has provided opportunities for students with hearing impairments to
access the general curriculum. These include:
Hearing Aids and Auditory Training Devices
Hearing aids are one of the most well-known types of devices used by individuals with hearing
impairments. There are a great variety of hearing aids, but all are intended to amplify sound.
Auditory training devices include devices such as FM systems. FM systems are more simplistic
than hearing aids. To use a FM system, the teacher speaks into a microphone and the student
would use headphones or speakers.
Computers
There are many special software programs for students with hearing impairments. The programs
can supplement instruction by providing speech drills, auditory training, sign language
instruction, and reading and language instruction.
Alerting Devices
Many everyday devices have been adapted for individuals with hearing impairments, including
items such as watches, doorbells, fire alarms, school bells, and alarm clocks. Instead of using
noise, these devices use vibration and light to alert the individual.
Captioning
Televisions are equipped with the ability to provide captioning for individuals with hearing
impairments. Closed-captioning makes television and film accessible for individuals with hearing
impairments.
Telecommunication Devices
In order for individuals with hearing impairments to communicate using the telephone, they may
use a telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD). A TDD is a small keyboard with a display
and modem. In order to use the TDD, the individual must relay information to an operator. Text
messaging has recently become a very useful avenue for individuals with hearing impairments to
relay messages without using the TDD.
Cochlear Implants:
The cochlear implant is a surgically implanted device designed to make sounds audible for
individuals with sensorineural hearing loss.