CHILDREN WITH DISABILITY: HEARING IMPAIRMENT

What is Hearing impairment

Hearing-impaired refers to the person with any degree of hearing loss from mild to profound including deaf or hard of hearing persons. It can be either genetic or acquired later in life. According to the Rights of Persons with disabilities, 2016 hearing impairments are defined as

“DEAF” means persons having 70 DB hearing loss in speech frequencies in both ears
“HARD OF HEARING” means a person having 60 decibels (DB) to 70 decibels hearing loss in speech frequencies in both ears.

There are two types of hearing loss- Conductive hearing loss [not a permanent loss can be cured or restored with surgeries]and Sensory-motor hearing loss [permanent loss cannot be cured].

2. Identify the problem

The chief symptom is an inability to hear which will lead to sensitivity to sound, difficulty in understanding words, withdrawal from the conversation, frequently asking others to speak once more, increasing the volume of radio or television, difficulty engagement in some social settings, and speech delay in the child.

Communication barriers with peers may cause isolation, low esteem, and depression in children, it is very difficult to fit into society. Sign language may not be known to everyone. Most of the children are socially secluded and there is a chance for the world to get confusing. Parents of children with hearing impairment are also having difficulty in training them. One of the major causes of worsening of the condition is the inability to identify

3. Statistics

According to WHO {2018}, the prevalence of hearing impairments in India is about 6,3% is about 63 million people in India are suffering from hearing impairments. The estimated prevalence of adult-onset is about deafness is 7.6 % and child onset deafness is about 2%. In the Kerala context census 2011, the total prevalence of people having hearing impairments is about 1,05,366. male about 48,087 and female 57,279.

4. Common causes of Hearing Loss

Earwax build-up

Temporarily blocks the ear canal and prevents the conduction of sound waves

Ear infections

Creates a buildup of fluid that may interfere with the movement of the eardrum

Ruptured eardrums

Can be a severe condition that can lead to hearing loss and other hearing problems.

Excessive noise exposure

Occurs when exposure to dangerous decibel levels damages the ear.

Inner/middle ear diseases

Conditions that temporarily or permanently impact hearing

Physical head trauma

Traumatic brain injury, a hole in the eardrum, or damage to the middle ear can lead to hearing loss.

Age-related

Inner ear structures slowly decline with age

5. Individual Challenges

The major challenges that can affect a person can be

Difficulty in communication
fewer educational or job opportunities due to impaired communication
social withdrawal due to the reduced access to the services and the
emotional problems such as lack of self-esteem and confidence due to the difficulties in communication with others

6. Institutional Challenges

In school, setting miscommunication can lead to the poor performance of the students. Educators may think that those students fail to receive correct instruction and label them as lazy students
In a social context, many people tend to avoid making efforts to interact with children with hearing impairment. This leads to a lack of social interaction. At the same time, it affects self-esteem.

7. Solutions

TREATMENT

EARLY INTERVENTION

Early Intervention is a program for infants and toddlers younger than three years old who have developmental delays or are at risk of a developmental delay.

Allow children to be fitted with hearing aids as soon as possible, which can be as early as four weeks old, or to be scheduled for cochlear implants which can be done as early as one year old.
Intervention, before the age of six months, pays off in better reading achievement and speech abilities in later years.
Preschool programs allow students with hearing loss to develop language during the high developmental period in their lives.
Early intervention programs help families better understand and meet the exceptional needs of their family members

The best early intervention is with their parents, the parents need to talk, sing to them, read to them, play games, and always try to communicate with the child.

STAGES OF TREATMENT

Through the pre-examination, if the child is finding any hearing problems, they will be referred to an audiologist or pediatric audiologist for an evaluation. The test may be used

Otoacoustic emission: Determine the ear is blocks
Auditory brainstem response: Determine the sound is getting to the brain

Hearing Aids

There are two main types of hearing aids. They are Analog hearing aids and Digital hearing aids.

Analog hearing aids convert sound waves into electrical signals and then make them louder. they are usually less expensive and have simple volume controls.
Digital hearing aids convert sound waves into numerical codes similar to computer codes, then amplify them. The code includes information about the direction of a sound.

There are various other types of hearing aids; they come in a range of sizes, circuitries, and levels of power. They do not cure deafness but amplify the sound that enters the ear so that the listener can hear things more clearly. Hearing aids consist of a battery, loudspeaker, amplifier, and microphone

Cochlear Implants

The external parts of a left-ear cochlear implant
Inserted to help patients whose hearing impairment is caused by hair cell damage in the cochlea. The implants usually help most people understand speech better Children will usually have cochlear implants in both ears, while adults tend to have one in just one ear.

8. Myths Facts and Technologies

One of the major myths which persist for any disability and also for hearing impairment is that children have no future. This will prevent the parents from letting the child study and explore different opportunities.

Resources available in Kerala, different schemes

SRUTHITHARANGAM SCHEME

Benefit: Free cochlear treatment

Criteria.0_5 years

Central schemes

Cochlear implant surgery under ADIP:

Benefits: Misc. benefits will be provided

Disability criteria: 40% disability

Hearing-impaired children are provided with Pre-school education, Uniform,

Benefit: certificates provided

Disability criteria: Speech and Hearing-Impaired children in the
the age group of 3 to 5 years

NEW TECHNIQUES

FM SYSTEM: An FM system is a kind of device that helps people with hearing loss hear in background noise. FM stands for frequency modulation. It is the same type of signal used for radios. FM systems send sound from a microphone used by someone speaking to a person wearing the receiver. This system is sometimes used with hearing aids. An extra piece is attached to the hearing aid that works with the FM system.
Captioning: Many television programs, videos, and DVDs are captioned. Television sets made after 1993 are made to show the captioning. You don’t have to buy anything special. Captions show the conversation spoken on the soundtrack of a program at the bottom of the television screen
Another device: There are many other devices available for children with hearing loss. Some of these include: Text messaging, Telephone amplifiers, Flashing and vibrating alarms, Audio loop systems, Infrared listening devices, Portable sound amplifiers (Text Telephone or teletypewriter)

9. Organizations in Kerala

Asha bhavan high school, Thrissur
Assisi school, Malappuram
Assisi mount higher secondary, Kottayam
CSI vocational school, Kollam
Don Bosco speech school. Kannur