Download Conductive Hearing Loss – temporary/ short-term

TOWER HAMLETS SUPPORT FOR LEARNING SERVICE
Sensory Support Service: Deaf/ Partially Hearing Team
Unilateral Hearing Loss
Situations that can be challenging
The time of onset of the hearing loss will determine the degree to which a
child’s linguistic development is likely to be affected. The more developed the
child’s language and communication skills, the less serious the implications in
terms of future linguistic progress.
If the child loses hearing while developmentally young and with little
experience of communication, it is to be expected that speech and
communication skills will be slower to develop.
Educational Implications
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Pupils may have difficulty locating the source of sound.
In group discussions, a pupil may have difficulty following changes of
speaker.
Pupils will have more difficulty listening when background noise is
present, such as other sounds in the classroom.
Pupil may need time to respond due to listening at an increased
distance.
Pupil may tire more quickly than other pupils because of the difficulties
in listening, particularly at the end of the day
Difficulties may occur when several people are talking, such as having
a conversation or discussion. May have difficulty in locating who is
speaking, missing the beginning of what is being said.
Possible social isolation. Child may seem ‘rude’ through ignoring,
interrupting, shouting or jumping to conclusions because of reduced
hearing.
If English is a second language or the pupil has additional learning
needs it is likely to have a more severe effect as it will be more difficult to
learn English in poor listening conditions AND with reduced or fluctuating
hearing.
Road Safety
Unilateral deafness makes it difficult for a child to tell which direction a sound
is coming from, so it is important to teach the child / young person to take
extra care when crossing the road. When out cycling, rear-view mirrors on the
child / young person’s bicycle can help them to see when a car is behind
them.
Strategies to support access in class
There are simple strategies that can significantly alleviate the impact of the
above problems:
 Make sure that the pupil is near to the source of sound
 Ensure that their ‘hearing’ ear is facing the source of sound. This can
mean in the classroom a pupil is seated to the side of the room.
 Gain pupil’s attention before speaking to him / her or the class.
 Keep background noise to a minimum. Check understanding if pupil
has had to follow in noisier situations and monitor issues in the
playground. It is helpful to alert outside supervisors of a pupil’s
hearing loss and to advise that they gain a pupil’s attention before
speaking to him / her.
 Speak in a clear voice at a reasonable speed.
 Stand where no shadow falls on your face (ie not in front of a window
or a whiteboard when on).
Protecting the child / young person’s hearing
In most cases, the ability of the ear with better hearing stays the same.
However, it is important to take precautions to protect the hearing. This
includes any hearing in the ear affected by deafness, as well as the ear with
hearing.
If the child / young person has an ear infection s/he should see their GP as
soon as possible. An ear infection could cause the level of deafness to
increase, even though this may be temporary.
Make sure the child / young person is not exposed to very loud sounds over
long periods eg ICT suite, multimedia.
Ear protectors need to be used when appropriate (e.g. listening to personal
stereo, pop concerts).
Sources of some of the above information:
www.ndcs.org