Recent Study Focuses on Language Development and Children with Hearing Loss

Statistically, two to three children out of every 1,000 are born with some type of hearing loss. Thanks to the Newborn and Infant Hearing Screening and intervention Act of 1999, roughly 97 percent of infants are now screened for hearing loss at birth. The importance of early screening and early fitting of hearing aids directly relates to language development. If children are unable to adequately hear and process speech, their educational, social and even emotional development can be severely handicapped – which is harder to remedy the longer it goes untreated.

When hearing loss is treated early, children are able to stay developmentally on par with their hearing peers; on the other hand, hearing-impaired children who have severely lagged in development may require special, costly education (according to the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management, to the tune of over $400,000 through high school).

Considering these facts, four fields of researchers from the University of Iowa, Boys Town National Research Hospital, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill partnered on a four year study titled “Outcomes of Children with Hearing Loss,” published in the October edition of Ear and Hearing. The goal was to explore the benefits of early intervention and also determine which methods and conditions of treatment showed the greatest success. Of the 434 children from ages six months to seven years old who participated in the study, 317 had been previously diagnosed with bilateral hearing loss, and most had been fitted for hearing aids.

As they had anticipated, the researchers confirmed the children with hearing loss experienced poorer language development than those with healthy hearing. The more severe the hearing loss, the greater its impact. In addition, use of hearing aids significantly impacted the development of children with hearing loss of any level. Furthermore, children who had been fitted in infancy also showed better development than those who had been treated later.

One discovery that surprised the researchers was the importance of not only hearing aid use, but fit. Roughly 35 percent of the children who used hearing aids had been fitted improperly, and were likely to experience greater hearing difficulties. The team provided this information to the children’s parents to be corrected.

This study confirms the overall importance of early testing and treating of hearing loss among those in the most crucial stage of development. Correcting hearing in childhood not only improves children’s development in all areas, but protects them from the negative health effects of untreated hearing loss later in life. Although the intervention act is currently enforced in 43 states, parents shouldn’t take these tests for granted, but adopt the ultimate responsible for ensuring their child’s hearing is tested and monitored throughout childhood.