Hearing is an important part of a child's development
The brains of young children are constantly learning about the world around them. Sound is one of the most important sources of information for your child during crucial stages of their development.
Hearing is critical to speech and language development
Hearing enables us to have conversations, to express needs and wants, to connect with others – to discover the power of communication. In this way, it is a foundation for the early connection between a newborn and their parents.
Babies start to develop language from the moment they’re born. Long before they learn to talk, they are constantly listening. Their brains learn to recognise and understand sound. They learn their mother's voice and what specific sounds in the environment mean.
Early detection of hearing loss is important
If a child has hearing loss, the risk increases that there will be delays in their speech and language. The earlier the hearing loss is detected and treated, the better their potential for language development. With today’s technology, children can be fitted with hearing aids shortly after birth.
What happens when a child has hearing loss?
- Environmental and speech sounds are reduced
- Only some parts of the sounds of speech get through to their brain
- Their brain has to work harder
- Speech sounds may be distorted
- Noise creates a barrier to communication
- Many soft sounds may not be accessible, such as footsteps, distant voices, and sounds of nature
- It takes more effort to follow what is being said
Increase the ‘listening bubble’
Hearing includes the abilities to discriminate between loudness and pitch. It also includes the ability to hear sounds at a distance. When you are listening to someone who is not close to you or in another room, you are using your distance hearing. This distance or range of hearing can be described as a listening bubble1. A child with a hearing loss will have a smaller listening bubble than a child with normal hearing.
Hearing aids will increase the size of the child’s listening bubble. By wearing hearing aids during all waking hours, children are able to optimise their hearing access, which is critical to a child's overall development.
How to help your child communicate
When we communicate, we use more than just spoken language. We also use our hands, body language, and facial expressions. Using these can help improve how well we understand one another.
The following basic communication support options may help you communicate with your child more easily. It’s a good idea to try one at a time.
Good communication habits
1.
Always face your child when speaking, preferably within 1-2 metres (3–6 feet)
2.
Keep your face in view and well lit, so it’s easy to see your facial expressions and read your lips
3.
Try not to talk while chewing food. This makes it more difficult to understand what you are saying, and almost impossible for others to read your lips.
4.
Avoid covering your face by leaning with your face on a hand
5.
Speak clearly at a normal pace, and remember that you don’t need to shout
6.
If your child has trouble understanding you, try re-phrasing the word or sentence rather than repeating yourself
7.
Try to avoid background noise when talking to your child. Turn off devices such as the television and close the window if it’s noisy outside.
8.
When background noise is unavoidable, either move closer to make your voice louder than the background noise, or try to find somewhere quieter to talk.
Communication support options for children
Lip reading
Lip reading supports spoken speech because our lips help to show how we articulate different words. This helps differentiate between words that sound similar, e.g. ‘man’ versus ‘land’. In this way, lip reading is important for children with hearing loss, because their vision helps them understand.
Cued speech
Cued speech can also supplement spoken language for children with hearing loss, helping your child’s speech and language development. To use this technique, you first learn where in the mouth particular sounds are formed. The sounds are then linked to specific hand gestures to support the spoken words.
This technique requires special training for you and your family.
Sign language
Children with severe to profound hearing loss may use sign language. To learn sign language, both your child and your family need to be actively involved. Talk to your hearing care professional or audiologist about which communication techniques are best for your situation, and talk with other parents, teachers, and adults with hearing loss.
The Clear Speech method
The Clear Speech method is a special way of speaking. It teaches you how to pronounce each word and sentence in a precise and accurate way, without dropping the endings of words and with pauses between all phrases and sentences.
Using this method to speak more clearly, people find their voice automatically slows down and becomes louder. By using a fuller range of voice intonation and stressing key words, the method also makes people’s voices become livelier.
References
1. Karen L. Anderson, PhD, 2002