|
Hearing
Loss
University
of Michigan Health System RNS, Hearing Loss, Sept. 2002
Full press release at the following URL:
http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2002/hearingloss.htm
Parents: Keep an eye
on your child's ears
Suggested
Lead: U-M experts say it's important to a child's development
that parents monitor their child's hearing from birth onward. Here's
Andi McDonnell with more.
TRT 2:22
SOQ
A baby wearing
hearing aids? A toddler with a bionic ear implant?
It might sound
strange. But severe hearing loss in babies is more common than you
might think - affecting one or two infants in every thousand. It's
actually one of the most common birth defects.
But babies
as young as seven weeks can now get help from technology that allows
them to hear better. And when hearing problems are treated early,
children go on to do much better at speaking, reading and learning
than those who are diagnosed later on.
Dr. Paul Kileny
(Ph.D.), the director of audiology for the U-M Health System, tells
us...
"Hearing
is the learning avenue or the learning channel. It is very important
for all kinds of development and adjustment, not just academic,
not just speech and language, but also social development, social
interaction and so forth."
A number of
factors can lead to hearing loss weeks or months after birth. Children
who should be closely monitored include those with a family history
of hearing loss, premature or low-birthweight babies, and if the
mother had certain infections during pregnancy or a difficult delivery.
Depending on the kind of hearing loss a child has, specialists may
recommend hearing aids or even a cochlear implant - a "bionic
ear" that sends sounds directly to the brain. The U-M has a
special support program for the parents of children with newly diagnosed
hearing loss, Kileny explains....
"If
the hearing loss is such that it is amendable to correction using
what we refer to as conventional amplification, which in simple
terms means a standard or conventional hearing aid, hearing aid
can be fitted and placed at a very young age and in our institution,
we have fitted hearing aids at as young as seven or eight weeks.
Now if the hearing loss is excessive beyond the level at which
a hearing aid can provide effective meaningful correction to the
hearing loss, then the option is to provide the child with a cochlear
implant."
Kileny says
all parents need to remember to have their child's hearing tested
regularly during their early developmental years. He especially
warns parents not to get a false sense of security if their baby
passes the newborn hearing test - hearing loss can still occur several
months later.
From Ann Arbor, I'm Andi McDonnell
|
Additional
PRMC Info
