Hearing Loss \"Kids With Hearing

Hearing Loss

"Kids with Hearing Loss in One Ear Fall Behind in Language Skills, Study Finds"

This article, by Gwen Ericson (2010) of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, reports that by the time children reach school age one in 20 suffer hearing loss in one ear. This study found that on average children with hearing loss in one ear have poorer oral language scores than children with hearing in both ears. Hearing loss in one ear can come from congenital abnormalities in the ear, head trauma or infections such as meningitis. Many times children with hearing loss in one ear go undetected because they can appear to have normal hearing, or their difficulty hearing may be misinterpreted as a lack of attention or selective hearing. Even children with recognized one-side hearing loss are often not fitted with hearing aids and do not receive accommodations for their disability.

The study sampled 74 six to twelve-year-old children with hearing loss in one ear, matching each with a sibling with normal hearing to minimize the possible effects of environmental and genetic factors on the children's language skills. Testing using the Oral Written Language Scales (OWLS) was given to assess language comprehension and expression. Interestingly the results of the study revealed the strongest effect from hearing loss in one ear was seen children living below the poverty level or with mothers that have little education.

Significant implications evolve from these findings. During the first stage of language development children learn the melody of the language along with a basic vocabulary. The second phase of language development consists of enriching vocabulary and learning correct syntax of language. The third phase corresponds to the formal schooling years, age six to nine. The child has mastered the spoken language and the basic grammatical structures. He now learns the written form of the language. During this phase the emphasis is on the mastery of reading and writing. At the near end of this phase, an eight-year-old has a command of about 80% of the grammar and 17,000 words at their disposal.

Children with a hearing loss in one ear may fall behind their peers with normal hearing during the first two stages of language development. When these children reach school age their behaviors may be taken to mean they are disinterested or not academically inclined, when in reality they are suffer a physical, not a mental disability.

If 5% (one in twenty) of children suffer from a hearing loss in one ear one can only image the number of children who are misdiagnosed, mislabeled or simply fall through the cracks. Depending on class size, statistically a teacher can expect at least one student who suffers from this disability to be in their classroom each year.