Academic Struggles In Young Children Could Be Connected With Hearing Impairment
Posted on: 12 August 2021
When young children struggle in school, especially if they previously were doing well academically, the parents might take the youngster to an optometrist for a vision check. If testing does not find vision problems, the parents may be perplexed about what is wrong. Since hearing loss is unusual in this age group, they might not suspect that the child has developed this particular problem. If the youngster has lost some hearing ability due to disease or trauma, hearing aids will be beneficial.
Symptoms
The youngster may seem to be easily frustrated and occasionally agitated. Before considering the possibility of hearing loss, parents may worry about the child having a learning disability or mental health disorder. Undiagnosed hearing loss can have several negative effects. Children may have trouble learning since understanding the teacher is difficult. They ight begin performing below their previous grade level.
Causes
Infections and head trauma can cause hearing loss that goes undetected for a long time. Permanent negative effects on hearing from serious ear infections are rare, so the parents may never have imagined this happening to their youngster. Yet repeated infections damage the eardrum in some children. Wearing hearing aids can resolve the problem.
Discovering the Problem
Discovery of the problem can happen in several ways. Since parents and siblings are accustomed to being with the child much of the time, they might not think that any of the behavior is unusual. For example, they might assume the child simply likes having the TV on relatively loud and doesn't immediately respond to questions because of distraction.
In contrast, people who don't have as close a relationship with the youngster could be the first to realize that something unusual is happening. The teacher might notice that the child has trouble hearing during class. Another possibility is that a tutor will be assigned to this student because of the academic difficulties. Working one on one with the child, the tutor could find the problem to be more obvious.
Concluding Thoughts
It's natural for parents to feel guilty when they learn their child has developed hearing loss and they didn't notice this immediately. Instead of wallowing in guilty feelings, it's crucial to move forward and schedule an appointment with an audiologist. A broad range of hearing aids are suitable for children. They can try different kinds and figure out which is best for their needs. Once the youngster is fitted for an appropriate device, academic difficulties should clear up quickly.
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