5 early signs to help identify deaf children

Quang An• DNUM_CJZAIZCABI 18:58

Children with hearing loss will have delayed language and intellectual development and face difficulties in life. Worse, if not detected and treated promptly, children will be permanently disabled.

According to ENT specialists, hearing loss is a partial or total loss of the ability to perceive sound. Hearing loss can occur at any age and can be caused by many factors.

The World Health Organization estimates that about 5% of the world's population, or 360 million people, suffer from hearing loss, including 32 million children. The majority of these people live in low- and middle-income countries.

The effects of hearing loss depend largely on the age of the patient. If not detected and treated promptly, hearing loss patients will not be able to communicate, will not be able to learn from the sounds around them, especially in children, children will have slow language and intellectual development and will have difficulties in life.

More seriously, the child will become permanently disabled. Therefore, timely detection and intervention will give the patient a great opportunity to restore hearing, develop language skills, integrate into the community and reduce the burden on the child, family and society.

Caregivers need to pay attention to observing children from the first months of life, because from birth children begin to hear, because if they cannot hear, they will not be able to speak.

To detect early hearing loss or congenital deafness in children, parents need to monitor their children's reactions. For example, if a 5-6 month old child is sleeping and makes a loud noise and the child does not respond, or if a 7-8 month old child is called but does not respond, adults need to take the child to the doctor immediately.

Parents can rely on the following signs to recognize hearing loss in young children:

- Newborns:Based on the child's hearing-movement reflex. Normally, children blink, move their arms and legs, cry, or startle when there is a noise. Children with hearing loss will not have these responses.

-Children from a few months to 1 year old:Know how to pay attention, look, and turn their heads in the direction of sounds made by instruments such as rattles and bells. When hearing very loud sounds such as thunder, car horns, etc., they will be startled, wake up, or cry. Deaf children will not have these reflexes.

-Children from 1-3 years old: Can speak, can say common words like grandma, mom, eat... If the child is deaf, he/she will show signs of slow speech, lisp, or cannot speak. The child does not respond when adults ask or call, or only responds to loud sounds.

-Children over 3 years old:The above signs are increasingly obvious, such as slurred speech and only being able to pronounce certain consonants or vowels.

-School age children:Children with poor hearing, slow learning, poor learning compared to classmates, lack of concentration, irritable, do not want to interact, talk, do not want to participate in group activities...