Resources and FAQs

Hearing loss in children is common with 170 million children with hearing loss worldwide that will need a lifetime of support (WHO, 2002). Hearing loss affects 1 to 3 infants per 1000 births and is the most common congenital sensory disorder. This number increases when conductive hearing losses such as those caused by middle ear problems are included.

If your baby fails his or her initial newborn hearing screening, he or she will most likely be rescreened in the hospital. If your baby fails the hospital rescreen, he or she should have a comprehensive auditory brainstem response (ABR) evaluation. This thorough evaluation will determine the softest sounds at different pitches that your baby responds. If the comprehensive ABR responses are consistent with normal hearing, no further testing is immediately necessary, but some babies’ hearing needs to be monitored for hearing loss that may appear later. If the comprehensive ABR evaluation shows that your baby has hearing loss, you should be referred to an ear physician and for certain cases also a pediatric audiologist to advise you on amplification options.

This depends on the degree of hearing loss. With modern technology, there are very few hearing losses that cannot be helped. For any degree of hearing loss, when appropriate support and technology are given, access to speech sounds and other important sounds is possible.

Speech ability depends on the degree of hearing loss. With appropriate support, most children with hearing loss develop good speech and language and can do almost anything that a person with normal hearing can do. It is critical that the hearing loss be identified early and appropriate intervention begin early to expose your child to speech sounds as early as possible.

All children with special needs living in the United States are eligible for a free, appropriate, public education, from day of diagnosis. Your child may begin receiving assistance from your local education agencies, even as an infant. Contact your local public school district to ask about their programs and services to help you and your child.

If you have any concerns about your child’s hearing, even if your child has already had a hearing test in the past, it is important to seek help as soon as possible. No child is too young to test. Even newborns’ hearing can be tested. The outcomes for many children with hearing loss are better than they have ever been before. Contact us at 469-803-5552 to schedule an appointment to test your child’s hearing.

The ear has three main parts: the outer, middle and inner ear. The outer ear opens into the ear canal. The eardrum separates the ear canal from the middle ear. Small bones in the middle ear help move sound to the inner ear. The inner ear contains the hearing nerve, which leads to the brain. Sounds are vibrations or sound waves in the air that go through the ear canal and hit the eardrum, causing it to vibrate. The vibrations are passed to the small bones of the middle ear, which transmit them to the cochlea and the hearing nerve in the inner ear. The vibrations become nerve impulses that are sent to the brain and are made into meaningful information. The brain is the most important part of the hearing mechanism.

Hearing loss can occur in the outer ear, middle ear, inner ear or brain. Where the hearing loss occurs typically depends on the cause of the hearing loss. An examination and laboratory procedures may also be used to help determine where in the ear the hearing loss occurs.

Sound occurs at different pitches or frequencies and at different loudness levels or intensities. Frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz) and intensity is measured with the decibel (dB). The range of pitches that we hear includes low and high frequencies, ranging from 250 Hz to 8000 Hz. The ranges of intensities that we hear are 0 dB (very soft sound) to 120 dB (very loud sound). A hearing test is a measure of how soft a sound is heard at each frequency.

It is important that you find an audiologist who is experienced with testing hearing of young children. Specialized equipment and techniques are necessary to accurately assess and diagnose a child’s hearing. Our audiologists are experts at these techniques.

An audiogram is a graph that shows the softest level heard at each frequency from 250 Hz to 8000 Hz. Hearing for a child is considered normal at each frequency if it falls above 20 dB on the audiogram.

Speech sounds occur at different frequencies. Most of the vowel sounds occur in the lower frequencies and most of the consonants occur in the higher frequencies. Generally, vowel sounds are louder than consonants. If hearing loss occurs in the high frequencies, it is more difficult or impossible to hear the consonant sounds. The range of frequencies typically referred to as the speech frequencies are 500 to 4000 Hz. The speech frequencies are important because we have to be able to hear speech sounds in order to develop speech and language. If a hearing loss occurs in this range, it interferes with the ability to hear speech, develop speech and language, and to communicate.

The degree of hearing loss refers to the severity of hearing loss. For children, hearing is usually described by the average hearing level (HL) in decibels (dB). For children, a mild hearing loss ranges from 16 dB to 40 dB HL, moderate hearing loss from 41 dB to 55 dB HL, moderately severe hearing loss from 56 to 69 HL, severe hearing loss from 70 dB to 90 dB HL, and profound hearing loss at 91 dB HL or greater.

The presence of middle ear fluid dampens the amount of sound that is transmitted to the inner ear, which causes greater hearing loss, thus, reducing the benefit of your child’s hearing aids. It is important to seek prompt medical attention if an ear infection is suspected.

Children with hearing loss need a hearing test every 3 to 6 months or sooner if concerns arise. Because hearing loss can be progressive, it’s important to closely monitor changes in your child's hearing. If you suspect your child's hearing has changed, do not delay seeing your audiologist.

Your baby may have some degree of hearing loss if he or she does not startle, move, cry or react in any way to unexpected loud noises, does not awaken to loud noises, does not turn in the direction of your voice, or does not freely imitate sound.

Sometimes the cause of the hearing loss cannot be determined because there is no known apparent reason for the hearing loss, but in some cases the cause of the hearing loss can be identified. Some common causes of hearing loss are ototoxic drugs, syndromes, heredity, high fevers, complications during pregnancy or childbirth, or certain illnesses.

The “code” that determines the unique characteristics of a person is a gene. Genes determine eye and hair color. A genetic hearing loss is caused by information carried by the genes. Genetic factors make up about 50% of infant hearing loss.

Your physician may refer your child for genetic testing to determine whether your child’s hearing loss is due to non-genetic causes or to a gene that causes hearing loss. This information can inform you of the probability that other children in your family may also have a hearing loss due to the same cause.

The two types of genetic hearing loss are syndromic hearing loss and nonsyndromic hearing loss. About 66% of genetic hearing losses are not related to syndromes and 34% percent are related to syndromes. A nonsyndromic hearing loss means that the hearing loss occurs without involvement of other systems in the body. A syndromic hearing loss means that there is hearing loss in addition to a recognized set of characteristics.