What should you do if your baby has "hearing impairment"?
- Date:
- Views:22
What should I do if my baby has "hearing impairment"?
If the baby is diagnosed with hearing impairment, the baby's parents and family members first need to calm down and accept the fact of "hearing impairment", and then consider what to do instead of rushing around taking the child to different hospitals for repeated hearing tests. Some parents spend a year checking and observing, which not only delays their children but also wastes money. Secondly, after learning that the baby has "hearing impairment", the baby's parents and family members need to learn some audiology knowledge. You need to understand the degree of the baby's hearing loss (mild, moderate, severe, extremely severe) and nature ( Conductive, sensorial, mixed) and parts (external ear, middle ear, inner ear and auditory nerve); finally, you need to understand the treatment, intervention and rehabilitation training methods for hearing impairment. Only when the baby's parents and family members can accept the facts can the foundation be laid for early intervention and recovery of the baby.
There are no more than drugs, surgery, Hearing Aids, cochlear implants and other methods, mainly to improve the baby's hearing and obtain sound amplification. Which method is more appropriate and how to do it depends on the degree and nature of the hearing loss.
01. Conductive hearing loss
1) For those with middle ear effusion: First observe the second examination to confirm that the effusion is not well absorbed or eliminated. If this is the case, you can consider using drugs to promote the absorption or elimination of the fluid and continue to observe it. During the observation period, avoid letting the baby catch a cold and prevent the baby from choking on milk.
2) People with external and middle ear malformations: If it is a single ear, the hearing needs to be reviewed every year to ensure that the hearing in the healthy ear is normal. Generally, it does not affect the child's learning to speak. When the child is about 10 years old, reconstruction surgery of the external and middle ears can be selected. Improve your child's hearing. If there is bilateral external auditory canal atresia, it is recommended to wear a bone conduction hearing aid BAHA within 6 months to help the baby improve his hearing and learn to speak.
02. Sensorineural hearing loss
1) Those who are severe or extremely severe: It is recommended to start wearing hearing aids in 3 months to cultivate their hearing awareness and perception. ability. After about 1.5-2 months of training, after conducting pediatric behavioral audiometry, the hearing aids are debugged. After debugging, hearing and speech rehabilitation training is continued.
2) Moderate hearing loss: You need to start wearing hearing aids at 6 months of age. After 1-1.5 months of training, the hearing aids will be debugged after pediatric behavioral audiometry, and training will continue after debugging.
3) Mild hearing loss: When the follow-up is about 8 months and it is determined to be permanent hearing loss,It is recommended to wear hearing aids.
03. Mixed hearing loss
1) Those with severe or extremely severe combined with middle ear effusion: It is recommended to wear hearing aids within 6 months, actively treat middle ear effusion, and review hearing regularly , debugging hearing aids.
2) Patients with moderate hearing loss combined with middle ear effusion: If the middle ear effusion is absorbed and it is determined that there is permanent hearing loss, it is recommended to wear a hearing aid within 1 year of age.
3) Patients with mixed hearing loss combined with external and middle ear malformations: It is recommended to wear hearing aids within 6 months and undergo elective external and middle ear reconstruction surgery.
For babies who wear hearing aids, it is generally recommended to have their hearing checked at least every 3 months. For children with severe or profound sensorineural hearing loss who have poor rehabilitation training results, it is recommended to receive cochlear implant surgery around 10 months old and continue auditory and speech rehabilitation training after surgery. For children with mild hearing loss, it is recommended that parents use speech amplification during the follow-up period to try their best to allow the child to hear the speech clearly, which can also achieve a certain sound amplification effect. Children diagnosed with enlarged vestibular aqueduct syndrome should seek medical attention promptly when hearing loss is discovered. Some children can be helped to improve their hearing through drug treatment.
Extended reading: Education methods for hearing-impaired children
1. Psychological counseling methods. This approach uses friendly, flexible, and appropriate language. Guide children with psychological disorders to express their inner anguish, so that their pent-up feelings can be vented and channeled, and their psychological pressure can be relieved. At the same time, counselors teach new theories and methods to maintain mental health, help hearing-impaired children change their original ways of thinking and behavioral habits, re-establish correct views and attitudes towards themselves, others and things, and re-determine their own behaviors Way. For hearing-impaired children with common psychological disorders, collective (group) psychological counseling can be used. But generally speaking, psychological counseling should be carried out in an individual way. Because the same psychological disorder can have different causes.
2. Confidence training methods. This is a form of behavioral therapy. It sets up a certain situation to allow hearing-impaired children who have psychological barriers to this situation to perform role exercises, so that they can enhance their self-confidence and gradually eliminate passive and anxious reactions. For example, in response to the psychological barrier of some hearing-impaired children who are afraid of going shopping alone in stores, teachers conduct simulated shopping exercises in class. The teacher proposes some items as merchandise and pretends to be a salesperson. Then let students with mental disabilities act as customers to buy things. After the student successfully purchases something, the roles are changed, with the student playing the role of the salesperson and the teacher or other students playing the role of the customer. After having the simulated shopping experience in the classroom, the teacher chooses the appropriate time and method to take the student to the store for actual shopping, in order to further eliminate his fear and truly develop his practical life ability.