Forum Details
Hearing impairment affects not just the child who has it, but the parents or caregivers too. It is a life changing event which most people are not equipped to cope with. In this forum, we at HearMeSpeak hope to connect and bring together parents of hearing impaired children. This forum allows you to share stories, experiences and treatment options, recommend doctors, and gain strength from each other.
The first step towards any treatment is empathy and connecting with people who understand what you are going through is important. This gives you the courage to move on and also a sense of companionship.
Hearing impairment is of two kinds – infantile impairment where one is born with an impairment and adult hearing loss. The symptoms, treatment options and approach to both are very different. Understanding the difference and dealing with it aptly needs patience and arming oneself with information.
Deafness discovered at birth needs a long drawn and systematic approach which starts with screening, surgical or non-surgical procedures, use of tools, gadgets or implants, speech therapy and such. In cases of infantile hearing impairment, you start with a ‘clean slate’, so to speak, and slowly and gradually fill in the blank space.
However the treatment approach is much different for adults. Here the treatment is not just physical but also psychological. We focus not just on treating the impairment but on Rehabilitating the individual as well.
Apart from the biological explanation of the structure of a ear and its functions, the brain also plays an important part. Hearing occurs through the brain as well. This is more relevant to adults.
Most often hearing impairment is not identified till it is too late, thus affecting the (re)habilitation process. Besides the physical implications or limitations that it brings to the impaired person, there are a lot of psychological, emotional and personal ramifications as well. Identifying them, understanding them, knowing how to deal with them and overcoming them are all very important aspect of rehabilitation.
However rehabilitation is possible only if the problem is identified. Most often, disabilities or impairments are not discovered early on, and once discovered acceptance takes time. This means that a lot of precious time is lost before treatment.
In this forum besides connecting parents of the hearing impaired we will also endeavour to explain the types and kinds of hearing impairment. The treatment options available, if possible the costs involved and the advantages and disadvantages etc.
A basic understanding of the hearing system is required here. The hearing system is divided into four sections – Outer Ear, Middle Ear, Inner Ear and Central Auditory Pathways. Each has a vital role to play and is like links to the chains in a system. Any problem with any one link will affect the response from the following chains.
Hearing loss can be classified into three different categories – Conductive Hearing loss, Sensorineural Hearing loss and Mixed Hearing loss.
Conductive Hearing loss
Conductive Hearing loss is a condition or disease that causes disturbance in conveying sound frequency of any form from the middle ear cavity to the inner ear. It could be a blockage in the external ear canal or a disease that affects the sound waves reaching its intended receptor. This can be treated completely or partially depending on the extent of blockage and with use of hearing aids.
Sensorineural Hearing loss
Sensorineural Hearing loss is a result of inner ear or auditory nerve dysfunction. It could be because of damage to the organ of the Corti or lack of simulation of the nerves of hearing. Such damage is typically irreversible and permanent. Treatment is sometimes difficult and usually involves amplification through hearing aids.
Mixed hearing loss
Mixed Hearing Loss involves a combination of Conductive Hearing loss and Sensorineural Hearing loss. This could be treated with a twofold approach; one to fix the conductive component and a probable hearing aid for the sensorineural component.
Having understood that, it is important to note that treatment involved will not just tackle the hearing loss, but also needs to look a speech therapy, teaching sounds, differentiating sounds from voices, forming words from sounds etc. Treatment is usually long drawn and can take a toll on the patient and caretaker as well.
This forum will give you the resources to make informed decisions about the scope of treatment, method of therapy, drawbacks, advantages and disadvantages.