It is not easy enough to identify your kid, as a deaf even if you do you cannot just understand their actions and other behaviors. Deafness in children is of different types but there are only two main types of deafness they retain. Firstly, Sensori-neural deafness, or nerve deafness as it is sometimes called, is a hearing loss in the inner ear. This usually means that the cochlea in the inner ear is not working effectively. Secondly, conductively deafness means that sound cannot pass through the outer and middle ear into the inner ear. This is often caused by blockages such as wax in the outer ear, or fluid in the middle ear (glue ear). Glue ear is a very common condition, especially in pre-school children. It is possible for children to have a combination of sensori-neural and conductive deafness. It is also possible to have a permanent conductive deafness, but this is very rare.

Different tests

There are a number of different ways of measuring hearing. The audiologist decides which tests to use. This depends on how old your child is and for which type of deafness the audiologist is testing. The tests measure how much hearing your child has, and helps to identify the type of deafness. If your child is very young, the audiologist may have to do a series of tests before they are able to give you all the information.

Degrees of deafness

There are different degrees of deafness, which are often described as mild, moderate, severe or profound. Hearing levels are often described in terms of decibels. When you next visit the hospital with your child for a hearing test, ask the audiologist to explain the results to you, and request a copy of the results to keep. It is important for you to know the level of your child’s hearing, as you may be asked for this information by teachers or others working with your child. All parents on their deaf children react differently. They may experience a range of emotions when they discover that their child is deaf. Some parents may experience feelings of guilt, sadness, isolation and anger, or have a fear of being unable to cope. Some parents, who are deaf themselves, may feel happy because they and their child will share a common language and culture.

Infant Hearing Loss

Infant hearing loss can be said to have occurred when the newborn child does not startle, move, cry or react in any way to unexpected loud noises, or does not awaken to loud noises, or does not turn its head in the direction of your voice, or does not freely imitate sound. More than three million American children have a hearing loss. An estimated 1.3 million of these children are under three years of age. Parents and grandparents are usually the first to discover hearing loss in a baby, because they spend the most time with them. If at any time you suspect your baby has a hearing loss, discuss it with your doctor.

Causes of infant hearing loss

Hearing loss has many causes: some are environmental (such as certain infections in the mother during pregnancy, or infections in the newborn baby), and some are genetic. A combination of environmental factors and genes also could cause hearing loss. In few of the babies with a hearing loss, the loss is a part of a syndrome, meaning that these infants have other problems, which may be one of those of the four hundred’s. The other cases are nonsyndromic, which means that the baby does not have any other problems.

Other causes

About 40% of the newborns with hearing loss that do not have a syndrome, have a variation in the GJB2 gene in some populations. There are many different variations in this gene that cause a hearing loss. Most of these variants are called recessive. This means that a person can have one usual copy of the gene and one of the variants and will have normal hearing function.