Hearing impairment is a hearing loss where a person’s understanding of sounds and communications is impaired. It can happen before or after a person is born. It can be genetic or due to an illness or other trauma. The 4 most common causes of hearing loss in order of prevalence are genetics, meningitis, otitis media, and noise (Smith & Tyler, 2010).
Conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss are the 2 main types of hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss is due to an abnormality or complication of the outer or middle ear. Sensorineural hearing loss is due to damaged auditory nerve fibers or other structures of the inner ear. Amplification can be helpful to someone with conductive hearing loss, but may not help a person with a sensorineural hearing loss. This is because with sensorineural hearing loss, the ear sends a distorted message to the brain (Heward, 2009).
There are several different causes or reasons that a person or their children may become hard of hearing. If a woman has rubella while she is pregnant, her child may be born with a hearing impairment. Ear wax can block off the ear and cause a hearing impairment. Otitis media, or middle ear infection, is common in young children and also can cause hearing loss. Otosclerosis is a disease that causes hearing impairment, and it usually occurs between the ages of 10 and 30. It can be corrected with a prosthetic device. Hearing loss can also be also be caused by cardiovascular insults (a heart injury, irritation, or trauma), viral or bacterial infections, diseases, or toxins that affect the neural system (Wehman, 1997).
If a baby does not breathe by the time they are 10 minutes old or has hypotonia up to 2 hours of age they are at risk of hearing impairment. A family history of hearing impairments is another risk factor. Additional risk factors include cytomegalovirus, herpes, orofacial anomalies, birth weight less than 1500 grams, hyperbilirubinemia which requires exchange transfusion, and bacterial meningitis (Wehman, 1997).
It is approximated that 28 million Americans, about 10% of the population, have some type of hearing loss difficulty in receiving and processing spoken communication. Hearing loss is more common in males than females. Over half of all of the people with hearing loss are 65 years of age and older. Less than 4% of all people with hearing loss are under the age of 18. Significant hearing loss is found in 1 out of every 1,000 births (Heward, 2009).
In 2005-06, 0.1% of all students received special education services under the disability category of hearing impairments. The real number of children with hearing loss in special education could be a little higher, because there are children with hearing loss who could be receiving services with a primary disability other than hearing impairment (Heward, 2009).
Conductive hearing loss and sensorineural hearing loss are the 2 main types of hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss is due to an abnormality or complication of the outer or middle ear. Sensorineural hearing loss is due to damaged auditory nerve fibers or other structures of the inner ear. Amplification can be helpful to someone with conductive hearing loss, but may not help a person with a sensorineural hearing loss. This is because with sensorineural hearing loss, the ear sends a distorted message to the brain (Heward, 2009).
There are several different causes or reasons that a person or their children may become hard of hearing. If a woman has rubella while she is pregnant, her child may be born with a hearing impairment. Ear wax can block off the ear and cause a hearing impairment. Otitis media, or middle ear infection, is common in young children and also can cause hearing loss. Otosclerosis is a disease that causes hearing impairment, and it usually occurs between the ages of 10 and 30. It can be corrected with a prosthetic device. Hearing loss can also be also be caused by cardiovascular insults (a heart injury, irritation, or trauma), viral or bacterial infections, diseases, or toxins that affect the neural system (Wehman, 1997).
If a baby does not breathe by the time they are 10 minutes old or has hypotonia up to 2 hours of age they are at risk of hearing impairment. A family history of hearing impairments is another risk factor. Additional risk factors include cytomegalovirus, herpes, orofacial anomalies, birth weight less than 1500 grams, hyperbilirubinemia which requires exchange transfusion, and bacterial meningitis (Wehman, 1997).
It is approximated that 28 million Americans, about 10% of the population, have some type of hearing loss difficulty in receiving and processing spoken communication. Hearing loss is more common in males than females. Over half of all of the people with hearing loss are 65 years of age and older. Less than 4% of all people with hearing loss are under the age of 18. Significant hearing loss is found in 1 out of every 1,000 births (Heward, 2009).
In 2005-06, 0.1% of all students received special education services under the disability category of hearing impairments. The real number of children with hearing loss in special education could be a little higher, because there are children with hearing loss who could be receiving services with a primary disability other than hearing impairment (Heward, 2009).