Children’s Hearing

Hearing health plays a critical part in a child’s development. Hearing problems can lead to delays with their language and speech development as well as problems at school and developing social skills.

At The Hearing Clinic we’ll assess your child’s hearing. If there is a hearing impairment, we’ll create a personalized management plan to restore hearing or manage hearing loss in a way that supports your child’s development.

Your child may be referred to an Ear Nose and Throat specialist for surgical management of hearing loss.. Or, with the help of hearing aids, The Listening Program, and strategies to manage auditory processing difficulties, we can help your child to improve their speech and language skills, communication, social skills, and overall confidence.

Indicators for Hearing Loss

You’re likely to be the first person to notice that your child is having hearing problems. They might not respond to you; they might take a long time to learn to speak or they may misunderstand you. You may also notice some of the following:

• Says “what?”, “pardon?”, or “huh?” frequently.
• Does not always respond when called.
• Appears inattentive or prone to daydreaming.
• Has the TV set at a high volume.
• Talks too loudly.
• Has unclear speech or mispronounces words.
• Becomes unsettled at school.
• Is often tired, grumpy, frustrated, or over-active.

Causes of Hearing Loss in Children

Many factors can impact a child’s hearing such as whether they were born prematurely, they have had a major illness or injury, they’re experiencing side effects of a medication they’re on, and more.

Auditory Processing Difficulties in Children

Even when a child has normal hearing, they may still face challenges with listening and processing information. This is referred to as auditory processing difficulties (APD).

APD can affect a child’s ability to learn, follow directions, read, engage in conversation, and reach their full potential. Children may become frustrated, upset, anxious, or disheartened because it requires a great deal of effort to hear, process, and understand what’s being said.

Parents or teachers may notice that a child seems to be struggling with listening and understanding. This can be the first step in detecting APD. Common signs include:

• Struggles to hear in background noise.
• Mishears or misunderstands what is being said
• Cannot remember longer instructions.
• Difficulty concentrating unless it is very quiet in the room.
• Difficulty understanding accents and cannot follow fast speech.
• Often daydreams.
• Becomes unsettled at school.
• Dislikes speaking on the phone.