Not Responding To Noise May Be Sign Of Hearing Loss  

An Ear, Nose & Throat Consultant at Garki Hospital, Abuja, Dr. Enema Amodu, says the inability of an infant to react to sudden noise could be a sign of hearing loss.

The ENT expert said early intervention reduces the impact of hearing impairment in children and advised parents who have noticed such development to take them to a specialist for medical evaluation.

According to him, it is difficult for a child that has the ability to hear sound not to respond to sudden noise, and urged parents to be vigilant and monitor the growth and development of their children.

In an exclusive interview with the past Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association Dr. Amodu, FCT Chapter, said parents that have children with hearing loss most times, live in denial, which makes them seek medical intervention late.

He said, “Parents should be vigilant, especially new mothers.  for instance, there is no way a newborn that is lying quietly in a cot would not know when a door is slammed; when a phone rings loudly, or hear a sudden loud sound. If as a parent you observe that despite these sudden noises, your child doesn’t react or respond, then, there is a problem with the hearing level.

“Imagine when somebody slams the door and a child lying quietly in the cot is not startled, doesn’t jerk, or starts crying. That means there are interruptions of sound perception and there is a need to get the child investigated by a specialist.

“There is no way you will be in a home and it is quiet all the time. It’s either the television will come on suddenly or a phone would ring. When all these happen and you observe that the child is not responding, you need to have that child’s hearing checked.”

Dr. Amodu linked hearing loss to congenital factors, noting, however, that some are acquired.

“The ones we classify as congenital are the ones they are born with. They could be due to developmental abnormalities that can happen when there is an arrest in the progression of development in the skull, nerves for hearing, or the child has other conditions that we call syndromic.

“When they are now born with these developmental abnormalities, it can affect their hearing level. So, they will be born without the ability to hear sound. But some other causes can also be acquired like as a result of wax impaction.

“Some mothers, once they give birth, start using cotton buds to clear the ears of the newborn. This can cause damage to the ear drums.  The cause of hearing loss in children can also be due to infection.

“However, early intervention helps to reduce the severity of its impact. The discovery of hearing loss on time can help to arrest the situation. But putting the child in a normal school would delay early intervention and put the child at a disadvantage”, he said.

Dr. Amodu urged parents that have children with hearing loss to accept the reality of their children’s condition and seek early intervention, rather than live in denial.

He said, “Sometimes, parents don’t come to terms with reality when they are told that a child is not hearing. They will say ‘God forbid, it is not my portion’ and they end up putting that child in a normal school. That is where the problem starts.

“If you mix up a child that doesn’t hear clearly with children that can hear, they will tend to make fun of the child. That is why hearing-impaired people are a bit aggressive and violent because they can’t hear what people are saying.

“The stigmatisation and aggression starts from having them mix up with the normal population. Hearing loss is not a physical disability,” he said.

The ENT specialist reiterated that identifying hearing loss early and trying to properly have the child educated in a facility to learn sign language would go a long way in helping with coping.

The American Academy of Paediatrics says hearing loss can happen at any age, stressing that hearing impairment at birth, or that develops in toddlers, is of extra concern.

“It can lead to developmental challenges if not recognised and treated early since normal hearing is needed to understand spoken language⁠ and then later to produce clear speech.

“If your child experiences hearing impairment during infancy and early childhood, immediate attention is needed. Even a temporary but significant hearing impairment during this time can make it very challenging for the child to learn spoken language or speech patterns”, the academy stated.

In a report published by an online journal, PMC, researchers stated that one-third of children with a hearing disability have additional comorbidities, regardless of whether one or both ears are affected

In the report titled, “Hearing impairment and language delay in infants: Diagnostics and genetics”, the researchers said depending on their severity, congenital hearing disorders result in more or less severe speech development disability up to the absence of spoken language development.

They noted that since hearing and speech development was bound to sensitive periods of brain development, early diagnosis and care of hearing impairment were essential for the positive development of the child.

 

 

Punch/Oyenike Oyeniyi