YOUR DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING CHILD

Many people perceive being Deaf or Hard of Hearing as a disability or a medical condition. As a parent of a Deaf/HH child, you will learn which terms are appropriate to use. Below are many terms you may encounter whether they be at an audiology appointment or with a neighbor. Many people who have varying hearing levels view themselves as members of a distinct cultural community with its own language, values, and social norms. There are no specific hearing levels or personal characteristics that determine how a person identifies themselves. For example, a person with profound hearing level and has the ability to engage in spoken conversation may identify themselves as hard of hearing, while another person with moderate hearing level identify as Deaf. How an individual chooses to identify is based on a variety of factors that include hearing level, communication preference, cultural orientation, and use of technology.

Hearing levels can range from mild to profound. Residual hearing can be affected by the frequency of the hearing level.

Mild Hearing
A person with a mild hearing level may hear some speech sounds but soft sounds are hard to hear. Will have trouble hearing faint or distant speech and understanding speech in a noisy environment. Many children with undiagnosed mild hearing loss experience language delays and read at grade level equivalencies below those of their normal hearing peers.

Moderate Hearing Level
A person with a moderate hearing level may understand only loud speech., may have difficulty in group discussions. Their own speech may have errors. Vocabulary limitations and deficiencies in language comprehension and usage are common.

Severe Hearing Level
A person with severe hearing level will hear no speech when a person is talking at a normal level and only some loud sounds. Will not be able to discriminate words without visual cues. If hearing loss is present during first year of life, understanding of spoken language and use of speech will not develop spontaneously. Own speech is mostly unintelligible.

Profound Hearing Level
A person with a profound hearing level will not hear any speech and only very loud sounds.  Will rely on vision rather than hearing as primary sensory channel for communication. Own speech is unintelligible.

(adapted from the Center for Disease Control & Sound Beginnings; A Kansas Resource Guide)

Acquired/Delayed Onset
A change from typical hearing at birth to a different hearing level sometime later in life, post lingually.

Asymmetrical
Hearing is different in each ear

Atresia
A condition in which the auditory ear canal is either underdeveloped, absent or closed. Microtia and atresia almost always affect hearing and generally require ongoing medical care from a pediatric ear-nose-throat (ENT) specialist as well as an audiologist.

Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder
Hearing issue that occurs when sound enters the ear normally, but because of damage to the inner ear or the hearing nerve, sound isn’t organized in a way that the brain can understand. 

Bilateral
Hearing available in both ears

Conductive Hearing
Different hearing levels caused by something, usually structural, that stops sounds from getting through the outer or middle ear. This type of hearing level can often be treated with medicine or surgery. This type of hearing issue is usually mild and temporary. 

Congenital 
The child is Deaf or hard of hearing at birth. 

Microtia
When a baby is born with an incompletely developed external ear and usually occurs with atresia. 

Mixed Hearing
Hearing that includes both a conductive and a sensorineural hearing issue.

Unilateral
Hearing available only in one ear

Post-lingual
Hearing levels changed after a person learned to talk 

Pre-lingual
Hearing levels changed before a person learned to talk 

Progressive
Hearing levels become more profound over time 

Sensorineural Hearing
A hearing issue that occurs when there is an issue in the way the inner ear or hearing nerve works. This can happen when the tiny hair cells in the cochlea are damaged or destroyed. Depending on the level, a child might: hear most sounds (although they would be muffled); hear in quiet but not in noise; hear only some sounds, or hear no sounds at all. Sensorineural hearing issues are almost always permanent.

Symmetrical
Hearing level is the same in both ears