Q:
My child does not seem to hear when I call out to him. How do I
know if my child’s hearing is normal?
A:
When your child does not respond to the sounds in the environment,
does not give you eye contact on his name calling and his speech
appears to be delayed, then your child may have a hearing deficit.
Q:
How do I confirm that my child may have deafness?
A:
Take your child to an Audiologist to check the hearing. Depending
on the age of the child, the audiologist will decide on the method
for testing his hearing.
For
instance –
- Neonates
and infants could be tested by BERA (Brainstem Evoked Response
Audiometry) which is an objective test.
- Children
in the age group of 2 – 3 yrs could be screened using free
- field audiometry.
- Children
above 3yrs could be conditioned and then a full - fledged audiogram
can be done.
Q:
What is an audiogram?
A:
An audiogram is a graph of intensity v/s frequency. This is a subjective
test by which one can find the hearing thresholds of the child over
a range of speech frequencies i.e. 125Hz – 8000Hz. It helps
to determine not only whether your child is deaf and but also in
which range of sound frequency, the hearing is most impaired. It
also determines how severe is the hearing loss in your child. This
can help in determining the further course of action while treating
the child.
Q:
What should I do after the audiological evaluation?
A:
After the audiological evaluation, the child has to be fitted with
a suitable pair of hearing – aids, which will enable the child
to use his residual hearing to its maximum potential.
Q:
Which hearing - aids would be the best for my child?
A:
An experienced audiologist would be able to prescribe suitable hearing
– aids by keeping in mind the following parameters.
- The
hearing thresholds of the child.
- Responses
of the child to the auditory stimulus.
- Tolerance
level of the child.
Q:
What the causes of deafness in a child?
A:
There are various causes of deafness in a child. The commonest
cause of hearing loss in a child is repeated ear infections. Apart
from that, problems to the child at the time of the birth, syndromes,
infections in the newborn period, hereditary causes may also cause
hearing loss. Most of the times the cause of isolated deafness in
a child is unknown.
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Last
created on 13-01-2001
Last
updated on 18-11-2006
