Yes, hearing loss can affect child development and children with hearing loss can have a hard time keeping up with other kids their age. We’ll explain a few ways their development can change and how you can support them during the intervention process.
Hearing Loss and Speech Progress
Children experiencing hearing loss can struggle with their speech and language development. Most of our ability to communicate comes from what we see and hear from people around us. Since their hearing loss can interfere with their ability to learn, they might have a difficult time with the following:
- Using an appropriate volume or speed when they talk
- Understanding correct inflection or pitch
- Pronouncing soft sounds like “f” and “sh”
But hearing loss can affect more than just the way the child sounds. It can impede the development of their vocabulary and sentence structure too. Since they have a harder time hearing and pronouncing certain sounds, it can affect how they use basic grammar principles like verb tense. In general, children with hearing loss tend to feel more comfortable with simple sentences.
Some words are easily connected with visual clues, like colours, animals, and some verbs. But conceptual terms like emotions or conjunctions can be confusing for kids with hearing loss. It can also be hard for kids to grasp terms with more than one definition, like “bark” or “date.” Because of hurdles like this, their vocabulary may not grow as quickly as other children in their grade—and that difference can become more of an issue over time.
Hearing Loss Can Affect Academic and Social Skills
The difficulties with speech and vocabulary can greatly impact reading comprehension skills. But these students can feel frustrated in other subjects too, like mathematics.
As they try to keep up with their grade, it’s common for students with hearing loss to fall behind one or more grade levels. Because of this separation, kids can feel more isolated or have trouble socialising. But early intervention from parents and school staff can help children with hearing loss succeed.
6 Tips for Caregivers of Children With Hearing Loss
The best way to help a child with hearing loss is to get them help and support early on. The more you participate in their progress, the better! Here are a few tips to help you through this process:
- Encourage your child to be independent.
- Be their advocate at school and in their medical care.
- Learning sign language can help build vocabulary and confidence.
- Talk with your child’s speech and language therapist pathologist about ways you can help or be a part of the therapy process.
- Help prepare your home environment for learning by keeping noise and distractions to a minimum.
- Reading with your child can help improve their vocabulary.
To find out more about changes to your hearing, whether you are an adult or are enquiring on behalf of your child, please get in touch with Paul and the team today Hearing aids, hearing tests & ear wax removal in Leeds.
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