Hearing impairment is a disability that involves the diminished or missing capacity for hearing in an individual. Partial and full deafness can cause substantial problems in learning, due to the lack of visual cues and an inability for teachers to adapt their curriculum to individuals with hearing disabilities. In today's world, the need for an education, particularly up to a college degree, is absolutely imperative to gaining stable employment, making it vital for citizens, regardless of disability, to have the chance to gain that education (Boutin, 2008). In this paper, the nature of hearing impairment will be detailed, as well as its impact on education.
Hearing loss, in addition to being congenital, may also be induced by excessive noise. While genetics and advanced age increase the risk factors for hearing lost, these impairments are happening more and more with each successive year. The advent of portable music players is somewhat attributed to the increase in decibel noise young ears are being subjected to, thus increasing the likelihood of noise-induced hearing loss (Daniel, 2007). Being voluntarily exposed to loud noise, smoking, leading a sedentary lifestyle and having cardiovascular issues are all contributing factors to the inducing of this particular disability. Some of the aforementioned risk factors are modifiable; voluntary exposure to loud noise, avoiding hearing protection, smoking and poor diet, and more can all be mitigated through simple abstinence from those activities. By limiting the risk factors that can be modified, individuals can lessen the likelihood of incurring noise-induced hearing loss.
The importance of hearing in learning cannot be over-emphasized; hearing is the best way to provide inter-person communication, as well as adjust to acoustic and linguistic environmental changes, which happen frequently. When hearing impairment (HI) is experienced in individuals, particularly children, speech production, cognition and language development can suffer. The disability manifests itself as limited socioemotional competence, vocational attainment and academic performance (Taha et al., 2010). Overall quality of life is reduced by hearing loss, as well as quality of education.
Agrawal et al. (2008) performed a national survey in which the prevalence of hearing loss in people across America was determined. Approximately 16.1%, or 29 million, American adults experience hearing impairment in one or both ears. Men are five and a half times more likely to experience hearing loss than women, and white participants were much more likely to have hearing loss than African-Americans. Hearing loss in adults was found to be increasingly likely if individuals smoked and were exposed to loud noises.
The prevalence of hearing loss in American citizens has doubled in the past three decades, with 24.2 million people experiencing hearing impairment of some kind by 1993. By the 2000-01 school year, the number of children with disabilities in the public school year numbered nearly 6 million, with over 70,000 of it receiving hearing services. For every 1,000 newborn children, congenital hearing loss can occur in one to six of them, experiencing hearing impairment at birth. Despite this, there are some cases of congenital hearing loss not becoming clear until some time has passed in childhood (ASHA, 2011). Nearly 15% of children in America have at least a 16 decibel low frequency or high-frequency hearing loss in either ear, or in both ears.
Teenagers in school who have hearing impairments can incur mental health problems due to a relative lack of language incompetence, and an increase in mental stress. Peer relationships within a school setting also suffer, but not due to the level of discrete language skills or the degree of hearing impairment; instead, the language level used in peer conversation, regardless of spoken or signed language, can determine how they interact with their friends in school. A learning deficit of that level can result in substantially damaged peer relationships, which can add to established mental distress (Fellinger, 2009).
When teenagers are at this diminished functional language level, special attention is required when attending to their mental health, making it vital to keep teenagers in the loop regarding the language the peer environment uses, so that mental health is improved. Teenagers, more so than any other age group, carries a unique level of emotional vulnerability and mental distress; the pressures of school and peer relationships are exacerbated by the presence of a hearing impairment, and mental anguish is linked to poorer performance in school and education. This is due to the closely knit relationship between language skills and psychosocial functioning of individuals, regardless of age. Specific language impairment (SLI) is proven to be large risk factor for psychiatric disorders of several varieties (Fellinger, 2009).
Hearing impairments can affect students even past high school; postsecondary education provides a uniquely challenging environment for students with HI. According to the longitudinal model of persistence, deaf and hard of hearing students are at a particular disadvantage, and must focus more on the concept of persistence in order to succeed in a postsecondary environment. Due to the high attrition rate in colleges of students with HI, persistence becomes a unique challenge for them, and as such it is more difficult for them to reach their desired career and education outcomes. The socioeconomic benefits that higher education can provide to those with hearing impairments are tremendous, including increased career mobility and income, and the social peer relationships that are formed in college can uniquely benefit those who are deaf or hard of hearing (Boutin, 2008).
Determining the presence of this disability is done through a number of tests or evaluations. The Diary of Early Language (Di-EL) is used by parents to report the early lexical development of children that have substantial hearing loss. This can enable them to learn more accurately the extent to which their children have HI. Receptive vocabulary is often used to determine hearing impairment instead of expressive vocabulary, due to the fact that the demands for fulfilling those requirements are lighter. With receptive vocabulary, children only have to point at the picture or object to understand what it is, as opposed to expressive vocabulary, in which children have to speak the words that identify the object (Lee et al., 2009).
Those children who have hearing impairments can experience a delay in language development (Verheart et al., 2008). Language impairment in school-age children 5-9 can lead to severe developmental disabilities, as auditory processing of information is severely impaired (Gillam, 2008). One large mitigating factor is whether or not these children have additional disabilities; when hearing impairment is the only disability to deal with (and not developmental or mental disabilities) learning is greatly enhanced, and they have a much better chance of reaching mainstream education.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) was created on 2005, wherein government interventions and services are provided for children who have hearing loss or auditory processing disorders (APD). Case law reviewed three primary issues that come to mind in IDEA-related interventions: placement of the child, teaching methodology, and provision of service. If a child with hearing disabilities is not designed an education plan adjustment for their curriculum, the school must handle fees in order to place them in a private school that will handle these interventions. Teaching methodology is adjusted via individual learning plans that are tailor-made for these students. Schools who have students with learning disabilities must provide interventions and individual education plans (IEPs) to these students in order to provide them with language learning and education services on a specialized basis (Kreisman & John, 2010).
One potential solution to solving the hearing loss education problem is conducting early hearing screening and treatment on children; provided that children are exposed to early interventions to treat hearing impairment, they have a better chance of reaching and excelling at mainstream education. Interventions often include cochlear implants, which can increase the rate at which individuals (including children) can hear. Hearing loss identification that is sufficiently early can result in the installation of cochlear implants earlier in the education process, which decreases the delay in language development. This is performed through boosting of the volume of incoming sounds in order for the individual with hearing impairment to understand what is being said. According to Verheart et al. (2007), 85.4% of children who have severe hearing loss with no other disabilities reach mainstream education; those with cochlear implants have a 46% chance of reaching mainstream education.
The FastForWord language intervention (FFW-L) is a method of language intervention which involves assigning various children with hearing impairments to particular intervention comparison treatments. This particular intervention, unlike many different types of interventions, features modified speech as a means to improve hearing and, consequently, language development as the lessons are taught using this modified speech. The premise of FFW-L is to include modified speech in order to handle an underlying language learning deficit that is assumed on the part of the child. It plays into the temporal processing hypothesis of language impairment, wherein delays in language acquisition and recognition are thought to impact language development in learning. In a study conducted on four different language development strategies, FFW-L proved to be an equally effective education and language learning intervention in children with hearing impairments (Gillam, 2008).
In order to help students with hearing impairments on a higher education level, issues with their persistence must be addressed. Due to their disability, they are much more at risk for attrition than normal students; rehabilitation counselors must be kept on staff and available to students with HI. These counselors can provide advice, recommendations, and other forms of help which can allow further self-agency on the part of these students. Educational assistance to deaf and hard of hearing students is just as important to their education as is deaf-friendly teaching methods. At the same time, student autonomy must be respected; a feeling of overbearing assistance could drive HI students further away from potential solutions (Boutin, 2008).
In conclusion, classroom performance and language development can be dramatically diminished by the presence of HI in students. Millions of children in American experience some degree of hearing impairment, which creates a delay in their development and ability to learn. The impact of HI on a children's education cannot be underestimated; it can provide tremendous difficulties for students, from learning basic language skills to increasing the risk of attrition once they arrive at a higher education setting. There are several strategies that can be used to offset the learning difficulties that can come from HI. First, it is possible that non-congenital hearing loss can be mitigated through the reduction of risk factors, such as voluntary exposure to loud noises. In those remaining cases, learning interventions can be provided for young children that could help provide an environment conducive to special learning. Individual education plans can be created to cater to each child as pertains to their disability; hearing impairment is no exception. Furthermore, college persistence strategies can be implemented to ensure that they remain in school despite the difficulties presented by their hearing impairment.
References
Agrawal, Y., Platz, E.A., Niparko, J. K. (2008). Prevalence of Hearing Loss and Differences by Demographic Characteristics Among US Adults. Arch Intern Med, 168(14), 1522-1530.
ASHA. (2011, January 1). The Prevalence and Incidence of Hearing Loss in Children. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Retrieved October 30, 2011, from http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/disorders/children.htm
Boutin, D. L. (2008). Persistence in Postsecondary Environments of Students with Hearing Impairments.. Journal of Rehabilitation, 74(1), 25-31.
Daniel, E. (2007). Noise and Hearing Loss: A Review. Journal of School Health, 77(5), 225-231.
Fellinger, J., Hilzinger, D., Beitel, C., Laucht, M., & Goldberg, D. P. (2009). The impact of language skills on mental health in teenagers with hearing impairments. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 120(2), 153-159.
Gillum, R. B., Loeb, D. F., Hoffman, L. M., Bohman, T., Champlin, C. A., & Thibodeau, L. (2008). The Efficacy of Fast ForWord Language Intervention in School-Age Children With Language Impairment: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of speech, language and hearing research, 51, 97-119.
Kreisman, B. M., & John, A. B. (2010). A Case Law Review of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for Children with Hearing Loss or Auditory Processing Disorders.. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 21(7), 426-440.
Lee, K., Nok, C. S., van Hasselt, C. A., & Tong, M. (2009). The Accuracy of Parent and Teacher Reports in Assessing the Vocabulary Knowledge of Chinese Children With Hearing Impairment. language, speech & hearing services in schools, 40(1), 31-45.
Taha, A. A., Pratt, S. R., Farahat, T. M., & Abdel-Rasoul, G. M. (2010). Prevalence and Risk Factors of Hearing Impairment Among Primary-School Children in Shebin El-Kom District, Egypt.. American Journal of Audiology, 19(1), 46-60.
Verhaert, N., Willems, M., Kerschaver, E. V., & Desloovere, C. (2008). Impact of early hearing screening and treatment on language development and education level: Evaluation of 6 years of universal newborn hearing screening (ALGO®) in Flanders, Belgium. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 72(5), 599-608.
