I have recently found out my 5 year old daughter has permanent hearing loss. Could she be fully deaf in future?
tessa asked:
I recently found out my 5 year old daughter has moderate hearing loss and will require hearing aids in both ears. She has fairly good speech and is doing well at school. Her teacher was surprised she had hearing loss. I keep worrying about her hearing loss possibly getting wose. How likely would it be for it to get worse to the point where she could become fully deaf? Is this a possibility?
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I recently found out my 5 year old daughter has moderate hearing loss and will require hearing aids in both ears. She has fairly good speech and is doing well at school. Her teacher was surprised she had hearing loss. I keep worrying about her hearing loss possibly getting wose. How likely would it be for it to get worse to the point where she could become fully deaf? Is this a possibility?
July 9th, 2009 at 7:29 am
I wouldn’t be surprised if it is a possiblity. The only person to determine would be a hearing specialist. It might not be a bad idea to start teaching her sign language now to prepare her just in case. I’m so sorry to hear that this has happened, but with perseverence and strength from you and the rest of her family I am sure she will overcome any obstacle that may arise. Best of luck to you and to her.
July 10th, 2009 at 3:08 am
The answer depends on the cause of your child’s hearing loss. Some conditions do deteriorate but over a period of time. Only the health professional who knows your child can answer this question accurately.
July 12th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Unless the hearing loss was caused by a problem that still exists, she should be fine. I have a hearing loss in my right ear due to earaches I had when I was a baby, but it has never gotten worse. Don’t worry unless it seems like it’s getting worse.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:33 am
What does the doctor say? With medical advances nowadays, they might be able to reverse her hearing loss in the near future. Keep hope and make sure she is seeing a top notch specialist for this.
July 17th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
now…as you said..the teacher did even notice…and if she has had a lot of ear infections then the scaring could cause some hearing lose…i think as parents we tend to think the worst instead of being proactive….like…seek medical attention…a specific dr for a child with hearing loss..i would have questions and i would talk about possible causes and i would talk about technology and methods to help or aide the hearing she has and the hearing she lost…i would not have her use any head set…or ear piece…fearing that a child may turn it to loud and damage the ear more…i would ask the doctor about that…so lots of questions and then…you’ll need to invest in a product or two….now she is 5 and i am thinking in public school so depending on her amount of hearing lose she may qualify for special educational services….and some parents ….take this personally…but you need to seek services that will help your child and teach her skills so she can learn in a group environment….i can not say…if it will get worst…but i would suggest all the above . good luck!…march forward mommy!
July 18th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
If a hearing loss is ignored or untreated, it can get worse. But a hearing loss that is identified early can be helped through treatment, such as hearing aids, certain medicines, cochlear implants, and surgery.
Children and adults who are deaf or severely hard-of-hearing can be fitted for cochlear implants. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), at the end of 2006, more than 112,000 people worldwide had received implants. In the United States, roughly 23,000 adults and 15,500 children have received them.
July 19th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
You need to ask her doctor about this….. If she has ‘permanent’ hearing loss….she’ll have the same in the future.
July 22nd, 2009 at 11:59 pm
If you consider the fact that without hearing loss, most people gradually loose some of their hearing over time, it is definitely a possibility that your daughter will loose her hearing to the point of being “legally deaf.” The amount of time that it will take for her to reach this point has various factors, so there is no way to tell. My suggestion to you, make sure she learns ASL now, while language acquisition is at it’s peak. That way she at least has some knowledge of the language and culture when she needs it later in life. She will thank you for it later, and will probably think it’s cool to learn another language. My children are both hearing but both of them know ASL. It might be possible for you to find a child around her age that is completely deaf and uses ASL to communicate. They could become friends and this would encourage her to learn ASL more effectively. Good luck.
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:01 am
This really depends on what your daughter’s physician/ENT and audiologist suspect may have caused the permanent hearing loss. If it is genetics, it is really hard to know. If it was caused by something that occurred during or following birth such as high levels of billirubin (jaundice), then yes it may possibly get worse.
Hearing loss requires constant monitoring especially for children to determine if the hearing loss is changing or is stable. There are many persons that have had hearing loss since a child and it has remained stable.
The only way to prevent further damage is to protect her from excessive noise exposure which can cause further hearing loss. Because she already has hearing loss, it is crucial to protect what she has left.
I would recommend discussing this with her audiologist and ENT so they can further discuss potential causes with you.