Minimal Hearing Impairment

Abstract

This article addresses five commonly stated misperceptions concerning the effects of minimal hearing loss on the education of children. Helping educators and other professionals recognize these and other possible misperceptions is the first step in appropriately educating children with minimal hearing loss. Making educators and other professionals aware of the need for proper diagnoses and management strategies is crucial for the achievement of effective educational outcomes for these children. Furthermore, resolving these misperceptions will assist in reducing the financial and psychosocial costs frequently associated with the education of these children.

Role of Subtitles in L2 Acquisition and Comprehension: A Pilot Study of Hearing-Impaired Students

“…This increases the risk for academic, speech and language, and social-emotional difficulties, and often such individ-uals are not provided with a learning environment which is adjusted to their condition (McKay et al 2008). Goldberg and Richburg (2004) argue that minimal hearing loss causes academic differences between hearing and hard-of-hearing peers. It has been established that hearing problems can cause a delay in language development, and children diagnosed with severe to profound hearing loss are readily identified as needing appropriate intervention at an early stage.…”

“…At the other end of the continuum are children with mild hearing impairment. Mild hearing impairment is too easily overlooked, mainly due to lack of information and proper awareness (Goldberg and Richburg 2004). Thus, a recent large-scale cohort study designed to establish outcomes for children with hearing loss under-sampled children with mild HL (Tomblin et al 2015).…”

“…The authors explain this fact as an indicator that many of these children had not been identified, in addition to the parents of these children being less likely to volunteer to participate, and the referral sources for the study. According to Goldberg and Richburg (2004), the reason why this condition is not taken seriously is because students with a minimal hearing impairment often pass the hearing screening. However, even though students may pass a hearing screening, they remain at risk for not hearing and identifying voiceless and high-frequency consonants in the speech directed towards them (Northern and Downs 2002).…”

“…However, even though students may pass a hearing screening, they remain at risk for not hearing and identifying voiceless and high-frequency consonants in the speech directed towards them (Northern and Downs 2002). Such difficulties often occur in classroom settings, with a lot of background noise and poor acoustics (Goldberg and Richburg 2004;Lewis et al 2015).…”

“…Furthermore, scholars in the field have stressed the importance of appropriate seating for optimal listening conditions due to the classroom acoustics (Bess and McConnell 1981;Crandell and Smaldino 2000). Goldberg and Richburg (2004) argue that seating a student with hearing impairment in front of the classroom will result in sufficient improvement in their hearing ability, however, this will only work if the teacher stands within 3 to 4 meters of the child or faces the student when speaking, as many students with hearing loss rely on lip reading (Crandell and Smaldino 2000). Goldberg and Richburg (2004) further state that this is not realistic, since, in reality, the teacher moves a lot around the classroom.…”