Hearing Loss And Life Flashcards
Congenital HL
- 1 in every 1000 newborns are identified w at least a moderate HL
- prevalence increases to 4 in every 1000 when infants with milder hearing losses are included
Risk factors for hearing impairment
- family history
- infections: herpes, rubella
- NICU > 5 days
- very low birth weight
- craniofacial abnormalities
- head trauma
- chemo
- neurodegenerative disorders
Genetics and HL: syndromic and nonsydromic
Syndromic (30% of HL)
- can cause sensorineural, conductive, or mixed HL
- Down’s syndrome
Nonsydromic (70% of HL)
- autosomal recessive inheritance pattern
- GJB2 gene is the most prevalent for deafness
HL and listening and learning needs
If untreated, HL in children has many impacts:
- understanding of speech and Lang
- social interactions
- academic issues
These impacts will vary w the severity of HL
Two impacts of hearing loss
- Congenital
2. Acquired
Mild hearing Loss (know this chart well) : challenges w speech and Lang, social impact, and academic accommodations
Speech and Lang:
- HL equates to missing 50% of class discussion
- miss under emphasized words and consonants
- difficulty learning early reading skills (letter associations)
- background noise presents major issue
Social impact:
- negative impact on self esteem; labelled “daydreamer”
- believe they are less capable due to difficulties understanding
- greater fatigue due to increased listening effort
Academic accommodations:
- noise in classroom impedes ability to hear teacher
- benefit from hearing aids/ FM system
- favourable seating, acoustics, lighting
- supper for reading and self esteem
HL and development
- identify early
- initiate treatment within 6 months of identification (minimizes speech and Lang delays)
- get supports in place for family (SLP, OT, PT, etc)
- greater FAM involvement = greater success
Acquired HL: adults
- report that ppl mumble
- trouble hearing in background noise
- ask for repetition
- require you to face them
Defining the impact of HL
- outcome measures such as the Assessment of Quality of Life or the Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly can be used to define how much of an impact HL has on a given individuals life
- look at physical, social, emotional aspects of life
Emotional impacts from HL
Denial :
- feel they can hear “well enough”
- just one more thing to deal w/ ignore it
- reflection of how they view their morality
Relationships w family and significant other:
-when communication becomes difficult bw members; frustration, anger, and resentment can set in
Embarrassment:
- having to bluff your way through convo
- incorrectly responding
Social impacts
Isolation:
-remove what is causing you to have the problem (family functions, movies, restaurants)
Fatigue:
-more listening effort = more fatigue = not wanting to do this
Interactions w family/ significant other:
- studies show significant other shows poorer mental health when living w someone who has an uncorrected HL
- family dynamics/ things are disrupted
- TV is a big source of tension
Cognition and HL
- older adults w HL see a steeper decline in brain functioning vs those who have no HL
- large impact on working memory
- could also attribute to: isolation, loneliness, extra listening effort
Dementia and HL
- strong correlation bw dimentia and HL (risk of dimentia increasing w severity of HL)
- dimentia, but they wear hearing aids = reported a reduction in disability
Cardiovascular disease and HL
- issues w cardiovascular health may cause a decrease in hearing (highly inner aged blood vessels in the inner ear)
- type2 diabetes = more severe high freq HL when compared w age matched peers
How to make communicating easier for the both of you (when the other has a HL)
Having to repeat yourself leads to negative feelings (not important, doesn’t care)
Take steps beforehand to minimize repetition:
- reduce distance
- get the individuals attention (tap on shoulder, call name)
