Recognizing Hearing Loss in Children

By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant

Hearing evaluations are routine for children born in US hospitals. However, hearing loss acquired afterwards can go undetected. It’s important to catch hearing loss early, as young children are at a crucial developmental stage.

“Early treatment and detection are better in the long haul,” said Kristopher Rookey, hearing instrument specialist with Port City Hearing in Oswego. “We want to catch it sooner than later. If they are having trouble, they might be disengaged in school and having trouble. Getting them hearing sooner is important.”

It can be easy to miss a hearing loss, especially if parents are not aware of some causes of hearing loss.

Some children have an anatomical predisposition to ear infections and if they develop them chronically, along with the typically impairment of hearing, they may miss numerous months of hearing clearly and learning language.

“Fluid can build up and they need tubes in their ears,” Rookey said. “Chronic ear infection can cause nerve damage.”

Causes of permanent hearing loss include illnesses such as mumps, measles and other childhood disease that are preventable with routine childhood vaccinations. A high fever that goes unchecked can destroy the auditory nerves and thus the child’s hearing. A fever treated with Tylenol that remains higher than 103 degrees Fahrenheit in otherwise healthy children warrants immediate medical attention. Seek care for any fever in babies younger than 3 months old. For those 3 to 6 months, 102 Fahrenheit is considered a high fever.

“A sign indicative of potential hearing loss after the birth screening is if a child isn’t localizing to sound,” said Anna Fyalkowski, audiologist with Syracuse Hearing Solutions. “If you call the child’s name and they’re not turning their head appropriately. Not startling to loud sounds, like if a dog barks or you’re clapping and they don’t move their hands or close their eyes tight.”

Early milestones include infants startling at louder noises and by 3 to 6 months, beginning to turn their heads towards the source of sounds to localize it. By 6 to 12 months, children should start recognizing familiar words and respond to their names.