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We introduce the term
since you will hear it used frequently by professionals. Time
is of the essence because a child's brain is programmed to learn
language during the first six years of life-the first three years
being the most critical. After this period, it is very difficult
to acquire language and speech skills. Therefore, the earlier
the intervention starts, the less of the precious six-year "window
of opportunity" is lost.
Early intervention can take many forms, such as getting children
fitted for hearing aids, providing counseling and support for
parents, and teaching parents how to stimulate speech and language
in their child.
Depending on the degree of your child's loss, hearing
aids will ideally enable your baby to hear many sounds. This
includes both environmental sounds (for example, the sound of
a rattle or a dog barking) and the sounds of speech. Basically,
hearing aids work by boosting the intensity ("loudness")
level of sounds at different frequencies ("pitches").
Higher-frequency sounds, such as "t", "p" and "s",
need a greater loudness boost to be heard than low frequency
sounds, such as "a", "o" and "ah".
Hearing aids can be programmed to fit the needs of individual
hearing patterns, such as boosting intensity level for high frequency
sounds that your child may not hear at all and less for low frequency
sounds that your child may hear better.
Hearing aids have improved dramatically in recent years-some
have built-in FM systems and directional microphones which can
reduce (but not eliminate) background noise. Speak to your audiologist
about the options available to your child and what technology
may best suit his or her needs.
Individual sounds may be somewhat
distorted. Because hearing aids amplify all sounds, including
background noise, it may still be difficult for your baby to
hear and understand speech in noisy situations unless you are
standing close by.
: A hearing aid is an electronic, battery-operated
device that amplifies sound to improve listening comprehension.
Hearing aids receive sound through a microphone, then convert
it to electronic signals, which are then amplified and sent to
the ear through a tiny speaker. Your audiologist will select
a hearing aid that provides amplified sound across the pitch
range in which your child has difficulty hearing but that is
still comfortable across the pitch range in which he/she has
usable hearing.
Your audiologist will fine-tune the amount of amplification
the hearing aids provide based on your child's loss. Even a child
with a mild hearing loss may need amplification. By analyzing
the audiogram, your audiologist can learn what type of hearing
loss your child has. The diagram below offers a simplified explanation
of what your child's audiogram says about his/her hearing loss.
| Can hear low-pitched sounds but not high sounds |
The audiogram is classified as a "sloping" configuration |
| Can hear high-pitched sounds but not sounds that are low
in pitch |
The audiogram is classified as a "rising" configuration |
| Requires the same amount of amplification to hear a sounds
regardless of pitch |
The audiogram is classified as a "flat" configuration |
© 2004 AAO-HNS/AAO-HNSF
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