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- A child is never too young to have his or her hearing tested
- Hearing loss is one of the most common birth defect in North America today.
- Three (3) of 1000 babies are born with permanent hearing loss.
- The average age when a significant hearing loss is found on a children is estimated between 18 and 30 months of age. This estimate is dependent on the degree of hearing loss. Important hearing loss is typically found between 11 and 17 months of age, but less important hearing loss is often not diagnosed until a child enters school.
- Today, tests now exist that enable hearing screening to be conducted on infants even newborns
- Early detection of hearing loss and intervention are very important to language development. Children whose hearing impairment is detected before the age of 6 months develop better
- If a hearing loss is confirm, appropriate amplification can be fit even on infants and the child can be enrolled in an early intervention habilitation program. No child is too young to use amplification or to begin habilitation.
Your child's hearing is priceless. Many important learning experiences will be missed if your child experiences a hearing loss.
However if you stay alert to any sign of hearing loss and suspect that your child is having difficulty hearing, then you should request a thorough hearing test from an audiologist
Below are the stages that children go through as they learn to hear. These stage are very consistent from child to child. If your child does not have one or two of the behaviors listed for his/her age category schedule a appointment with an audiologist to have your baby's or child's hearing tested.
0-3 months
- Is soothed by your voice
- Stir or awaken when sleeping quietly and someone talks or makes a loud noise (the baby doesn't always have to do this but you should be able to notice it occasionally)
- Open his/her eyes or stops sucking when there is a loud sound
- Sometime startle or jump when there is a very loud sound, like a cough or a dog bark or a dish falling to the floor
- Seems to know your voice and quiets down if crying when you speak
- Stops activity to pay attention to a unfamiliar voice
- Enjoys rattles and other toys that make sounds
- Moves or wake up at the sound of a voice
- Emits a variety of sounds resembling speech "ba-ba, ga-ga"
- Begins to repeat sounds (such as ooh, aah, and ba-ba)
- Turns head to search for the source of a voice
- Pays attention to music
- Begins to respond to requests (Come here, want more?)
- Enjoys games like peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake
- Turns and looks up when you call his/her name
- Points to a few body parts when asked
- Follows simple commands and understands simple questions (roll the ball, kiss the baby, where are your shoes?)
- Turn head to know from where a sound come from
- Say 2 words sentence (more cookies, no juice)
- Understands differences in meaning (go-stop, in-on, big-little, up-down)
- Notices sounds (telephone ringing, television sounds, knocking at the door
- Hears you when called from a another room
- Hears television or radio at the same volume as other family members
- Understand simple "who, what, where" questions
- Pays attention to a short story and answers simple questions about it
- Everyone who knows child thinks he/she hears well (teacher, day care provider, family)
- Understands most of what is said at home and in school.
Please remember that a parent or caregiver usually spends the most time with a baby or a child. If there any suspicion or concern regarding a possible hearing loss, contact an *audiologist and do not forget
A child is never too young to have his or her hearing tested.
