Hearing Loss
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Hearing loss is one of the fastest growing chronic and prevalent conditions that is facing Canadians today as is said by The Hearing Foundation of Canada. The two most common causes of hearing loss are age-related (presbycusis) and noice-induced hearing loss (NIHL), but there are many other causes. However, more than 2,000 are born with hearing loss and it is not caught soon enough, the child will have difficulty catching up with communication and social skills.
Some of the signs of hearing loss in children as giving by The Hearing Foundation of Canada:
There are many technologies that can assist in hearing for those with hearing loss. There are the standard hearing aids which will amplify sound for the user and captioning on television, but with increases in technology in the 21st century there are many other aids for communication. With the use of email and texting, those with hearing loss have a much greater opportunity to communicate with others. There is also FM communications systems that can direct a speaker's voice into the hearing aid of the person with hearing loss. This can be used individually or in groups and is a great addition to a classroom with a child with hearing loss.
There are two codings for hearing loss in schools: mild/moderate and severe. Definitions and criteria are from the Alberta Education "Special Education Coding Criteria" : (http://education.alberta.ca/media/825847/spedcodingcriteria_2008-2009.pdf)
HEARING DISABILITY (ECS: Code 30; Grades 1–12: Code 55)
A student/ECS child identified with a mild to moderate hearing disability is one whose hearing condition:
DEAFNESS (Code 45)
A student/child with a severe to profound hearing loss is one who:
Here is another definition/coding criteria from the Alberta government : (http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/inmdict/html/hearing_loss.html)
Students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing have a diagnosis, from an audiologist, which identifies the presence and degree of hearing loss. The Canadian Academy of Audiology defines hearing loss as mild (26–40 decibels), moderate (41–55 decibels), moderate to severe (56–70 decibels), severe (71–90 decibels) or profound (90+ decibels). The degree of hearing loss does not predetermine how students function in auditory, educational and social situations. Students with a moderate hearing loss may function as deaf, but with current technologies, students with severe to profound hearing loss may function as hard-of-hearing.
Here is a statistics chart from Alberta Education showing the rates of all the different codes in out education system.
Some of the signs of hearing loss in children as giving by The Hearing Foundation of Canada:
- Appears to have articulation problems or speech/language delays
- Has difficulty locating sounds
- Has difficulty understanding what people are saying
- Watches others to imitate what they are doing
- Responds inappropriately to questions
- Doesn’t reply when you call him or her
- Seems to speak differently than other children of the same age
- Complains of earaches, ear pain, or head noises
- Turns the TV volume to an excessively high level
- Has academic or behavioural problems
There are many technologies that can assist in hearing for those with hearing loss. There are the standard hearing aids which will amplify sound for the user and captioning on television, but with increases in technology in the 21st century there are many other aids for communication. With the use of email and texting, those with hearing loss have a much greater opportunity to communicate with others. There is also FM communications systems that can direct a speaker's voice into the hearing aid of the person with hearing loss. This can be used individually or in groups and is a great addition to a classroom with a child with hearing loss.
There are two codings for hearing loss in schools: mild/moderate and severe. Definitions and criteria are from the Alberta Education "Special Education Coding Criteria" : (http://education.alberta.ca/media/825847/spedcodingcriteria_2008-2009.pdf)
HEARING DISABILITY (ECS: Code 30; Grades 1–12: Code 55)
A student/ECS child identified with a mild to moderate hearing disability is one whose hearing condition:
- affects speech and language development and
- interferes with the ability to learn.
DEAFNESS (Code 45)
A student/child with a severe to profound hearing loss is one who:
- has a hearing loss of 71 decibels (dB) or more unaided in the better ear over the normal speech range (500 to 4000 Hz) that interferes with the use of oral language as the primary form of communication, or has a cochlear implant preceded by a 71 dB hearing loss unaided in the better ear; and
- requires extensive modifications and specialized educational supports; and
- has a diagnosis by a clinical or educational audiologist. New approvals require an audiogram within the past 3 years.
Here is another definition/coding criteria from the Alberta government : (http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/inmdict/html/hearing_loss.html)
Students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing have a diagnosis, from an audiologist, which identifies the presence and degree of hearing loss. The Canadian Academy of Audiology defines hearing loss as mild (26–40 decibels), moderate (41–55 decibels), moderate to severe (56–70 decibels), severe (71–90 decibels) or profound (90+ decibels). The degree of hearing loss does not predetermine how students function in auditory, educational and social situations. Students with a moderate hearing loss may function as deaf, but with current technologies, students with severe to profound hearing loss may function as hard-of-hearing.
Here is a statistics chart from Alberta Education showing the rates of all the different codes in out education system.