Early intervention

Hearing loss can affect a child’s speech, language, and social skills. The earlier hearing loss is treated the more is the likelihood of the child reaching their full potential.

The world health organisation’s research suggests that children who are born deaf or develop hearing loss early in life and who get intervened with the needed treatment within six months of age, are at an equal level to their hearing peers in terms of language enhancement by the time they are five years of age.1

Importance of treating hearing loss early in children

Early treatment can put your kid's hearing advancement comparable to their hearing companions - giving them an equivalent chance to excel throughout everyday life.2,3

Getting treatment at the earliest can have numerous advantages - including establishing the framework for basic language, permitting children to create social aptitudes, and helping them prevail in school

Children who got cochlear implants before shown more grounded language abilities contrasted with those treated when they were two years of age

Approximately eighty percent of children who had received cochlear implants before turning one showed a thorough understanding of different words by the time they began school4.

The graph below showcases the results of a global study conducted by the Hearing Cooperative Research Centre, Australia.

As the age at activation increases, the global language score lowers

Development of Speech & Language

From your baby’s first sputter, to his/her sensitive chatter following a day at school, the capacity to talk grows progressively. Be that as it may, before your kid articulates his/her first word, he/she will be picking up language skills from the grown-ups around

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders along with other professionals, list the accompanying age-appropriate speech and language milestones for babies and young kids:

Milestones related to speech and language

  • Coos
  • Expresses joy and displeasure sounds differently (chuckles, cries, or nags)
  • Makes noise when spoken to
  • Understands simple instructions like "no-no"
  • Babbles
  • Able to speak "ma-ma" or "da-da"
  • Tries to talk using gestures and actions
  • Attempts to repeat your sound
  • Says the first word
  • Replies to simple questions nonverbally
  • Says 2 to 3 words to identify an object or a person
  • Tries to mimic simple words
  • Vocabulary of 4 to 6 words by now
  • Vocabulary of 50 words (pronunciation is however unclear)
  • Calls out common food name when hungry
  • Starts to merge words, example: "more milk"
  • Uses pronouns such as ‘mine’
  • Moves to 2-word phrases
  • Understands words like “on” and “in”
  • Realizes pronouns, such as "you," "me" or "her"
  • Understands descriptive words, such as "big" or "happy"
  • Is able to use 3-word sentences
  • Speech becomes clearer mostly only going off a bit towards end of words
  • Uses tonality to ask for something, such as "my toy?"
  • Starts using plurals, such as "pants" or "socks" and usual past tense verbs, such as "jumped"
  • Develops ability to group objects like food and car
  • Can identify colours
  • Uses consonants between words. More difficult ones are attempted but can be unclear at times.
  • Strangers can also now understand much of what is said
  • Can now describe the use of certain objects like “car” or “fork”
  • Plays with language now; adores poems and identifies language absurdities, like, "Is that a giraffe on your head?"
  • Able to express ideas as well as feelings instead of only talking about their surroundings
  • Able to use verbs that end with "ing," such as "laughing" or "walking"
  • Questions like “What do you do when you feel hungry” can be answered.
  • Can now repeat sentences
  • Understands concepts like, such as "beside" or "behind"
  • Able to comprehend complicated questions
  • Speech is clear however can make mistakes pronouncing longer or more difficult words such as “Squirrel”
  • Starts using past tense verbs
  • Able to tell how to do certain things like “driving a car” “singing”
  • Can categorize different things, for example- animals
  • Also starts answering “why” questions directly
  • Able to comprehend sequences based on time (example, what happened before & after something)
  • Carries out a series of 3 directions
  • Knows rhyming
  • Able to engage in conversations
  • Uses sentences that are in 8 words of length or more
  • Can use own imagination to create different stories

It is important to note early signs of hearing loss in your child and consult a specialist for the same. Check out early signs of hearing loss in children

Early signs of hearing loss in children

Signs and symptoms for each child may be different. It is important to look out for the following signs even if the child has passed a screening test

Sign in Babies

  • No startling at loud noises
  • No response toward the source of sound after 6 months of age
  • Unable to say single words like ‘dada’ or ‘mama’ by 1 year of age
  • Hears certain sounds but not others
  • Turn their head when they see you but not when you call them out loud

Sign in Children

  • Delayed speech
  • Unclear speech
  • Turns the television or a video volume up too high
  • Says ‘Huh?’ Frequently

It is recommended you visit a professional or an expert in case you notice any of signs in your child or baby. Contact us in case you need to connect with a specialist near you.

Screening, Diagnosis & Intervention:

Early intervention is critical for your child’s language and social advancements. It is a significant factor that drives better outcomes in a child.

The road to early intervention begins from screening a baby at birth and undergoing a complete hearing assessment by contacting a professional.

OAE is a screening tool and mostly used in hospitals to screen for hearing loss6. In case your child fails the screening test, this is followed by BERA/ ABR (auditory brain stem response) testing, which is used for evaluating the degree of hearing loss. A test battery is used like behavioral testing BOA (Behavioural observation Audiometry) and VRA (Visual response Audiometry) which are done to quantify the degree of hearing loss. Once the degree of hearing loss is established, your professional will guide you through the right treatment options.

Babies

Experts globally suggest that a 1-3-6-month approach should be followed for babies5

It is recommended that babies get their screening done no later than 1 month of age. In case a baby does not pass a hearing screening, it is extremely important to conduct a full hearing test as soon as possible or at most by 3 months of age. Post the diagnosis, appropriate treatment and measures should be in place by 6 months of the baby’s age.

Screening and rescreening no later than 1 month of age

Diagnostic assessment no later than 3 months of age

Early intervention for babies diagnosed with a hearing loss no later than 6 months of age

Children

The centre of disease control and detection suggests that a child must undergo a hearing test before entering school or whenever a hearing loss sign is observed by the parents. In a situation where the child does not pass the screening, it becomes crucial to get a full hearing test.

My child might have hearing loss- Contact us

References

  • Childhood Hearing Loss. (2016). World Health Organization
  • Ching, T. Y. C., & Dillon, H. (2013). Major findings of the LOCHI study on children at 3 years of age and implications for audiological management. International Journal of Audiology, 52(sup2), S65–S68.
  • Ching, T. Y., Dillon, H., Button, L., Seeto, M., Van Buynder, P., Marnane, V., Cupples, L., & Leigh, G. (2017). Age at Intervention for Permanent Hearing Loss and 5-Year Language Outcomes. Pediatrics, 140(3), e20164274.
  • Dettman, S. J., Dowell, R. C., Choo, D., Arnott, W., Abrahams, Y., Davis, A., Dornan, D., Leigh, J., Constantinescu, G., Cowan, R., & Briggs, R. J. (2016). Long-term Communication Outcomes for Children Receiving Cochlear Implants Younger Than 12 Months. Otology & Neurotology, 37(2), e82–e95.
  • American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2007, December). Early Hearing Detection and Intervention. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
  • American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.-b). Otoacoustic Emissions (OAEs). American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
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