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Unit 10: Speech and Hearing Impaired: Definition, Types, Characteristics

present in the same ear. However, the emphasis is on the conductive hearing loss, because available Notes
therapy is so much more effective for this impairment.

10.6 Characteristics of Hearing Impaired Children
Hearing impairment is a decrease in person's ability to hear. The most severe form of hearing
impairment is deafness. The majority of these children have parents who can hear. Having a hearing
disability does not only affect a person's hearing but it can have a lasting impact on person's social
and language development, as well. Many people with hearing impairment suffer from social isolation
and mental impairments, such as depression.
(i) Delayed Language Development: A child who can hear typically learns language from a person
who speaks his native language. Hearing impaired children, on the other hand, typically have
parents who can hear and who do not know sign language. Thus, children with hearing
impairments are forced to learn sign language from people who usually do not know it well.
Moreover, it may take some time before the hearing deficit is discovered. This means that a
child's language acquisition begins later in life. Not surprisingly, children with hearing
impairments often have delayed language development, says the Pennsylvania State University.
For example, the vocabulary develops more slowly in children with hearing loss. They also
have difficulty learning grammar. It typically takes longer for children with hearing impairments
to learn to read and write, as well.
(ii) Social Isolation: According to Dr. G. K. Hebbar, hearing impaired children may suffer from
social isolation. This might partly be due to their delayed language development. They also
have difficulty picking up on auditory social cues. However, a child who feels like she is part of
a deaf or hearing impaired culture is less likely to feel socially isolated. On the other hand, it is
possible for a child who uses sign language as his almost exclusive method of communication
to feel cut-off from his parents and other people who may not be very knowledgeable in using
sign language.
(iii) Depression: According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, hearing
impairment does not necessarily mean that a child will develop psychological problems, but
when it is combined with heredity and environmental factors, a child with a hearing deficit is at
greater risk for developing, for example, depression. The American Psychiatric Association
states that people with chronic illnesses have a 25 to 33 percent risk of becoming clinically
depressed. Low self-esteem is also common among children with hearing impairments, according
to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Teenagers especially do not want to
be different from their peers, which is why they often develop low self-esteem as a result of a
hearing impairment.

According to Deaf Education, hearing-impaired children tend to play more with adults
than other children. This isolates them more from their peers.

Self Assessment
2. Fill in the blanks:
(i) ........................ is due to any condition that interferes with the transmission of sound through
the outer and middle ear to the inner ear.
(ii) ...................... involves psychological emotional problem, rather than physical damage to the
hearing pathway.
(iii) Children with hearing impairment often have delayed ......................... .

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