32 million children around the world live with ‘disabling’ hearing loss. Hearing loss is common and can negatively affect multiple aspects of an individual’s life when unaddressed or when individuals’ communication needs are unsupported. Auditory deprivation can detract from quality of life and access to spoken communication, which can impede development of child spoken language and contribute to the risk of dementia
Symptoms of hearing loss may include:
- Muffling of speech and other sounds.
- Trouble understanding words, especially when in a crowd or a noisy place.
- Trouble hearing the letters of the alphabet that aren’t vowels.
- Often asking others to speak more slowly, clearly and loudly.
- Needing to turn up the volume of the television or radio.
- Staying clear of some social settings.
- Being bothered by background noise.
- Ringing in the ears, known as tinnitus.
