Deafness and Hearing Loss

Hearing is one of our five senses. Hearing gives us access to sounds in the world around us—people’s voices, their words, a car horn blown in warning or as hello and Loosing this sense is known as hearing loss or deafness.

Causes of Hearing Loss and Deafness:

Hearing loss and deafness can be either

• Acquired, meaning that the loss occurred after birth, due to illness or injury or


• Congenita, meaning that the hearing loss or deafness was present at birth.

Acquired deafness may or may not be genetic. For example, it may be a manifestation of a delayed-onset form of genetic deafness. Alternatively, acquired deafness may be due to damage to the ear from noise. The most common cause of acquired hearing loss is exposure to noise. Other causes can include:

• build up of fluid behind the eardrum


• ear infections (known as otitis media)


• childhood diseases, such as mumps, measles, or chicken pox and


• Head trauma.

Congenital deafness similarly may or may not be genetic. For example, it may be associated with a white forelock, and be caused by a genetic disease called Waardenburg syndrome. Congenital causes of hearing loss and deafness include:

• a family history of hearing loss or deafness


• infections during pregnancy (such as rubella)

Cochlear Implant helps deaf people hear and distinguish environmental and warning signals, such as doorbells, Amplified Telephones, and alarms. It helps them modulate their own voices to make their speech easier for others to understand. A cochlear implant does not transmit sounds as well as a normal cochlea but does provide substantial benefit to the hearing impaired. It helps people read lips. Most implantees can distinguish words without reading lips and also use the telephone.

Hearing loss or deafness does not affect a person’s intellectual capacity or ability to learn. However, person who are hard of hearing or deaf generally require some form of special education services in order to receive an adequate education. Such services may include:

• regular speech, language, and auditory training from a specialist


• amplification systems


• services of an interpreter for those students who use sign language


• favorable seating in the class to facilitate lip reading


• captioned films/videos


• assistance of a note taker, who takes notes for the student with a hearing loss, so that the student can fully attend to instruction



• instruction for the teacher and peers in alternate communication methods, such as sign language and


• counseling

Tone-deafness is aevolving and expanding issue. There are interesting discoveries in process today. Exercises were regularly done because success in this case depends on the patient development of a series of reflexes. It is a difficult way, but if one has any idea of the success that can be reached by it, he or she will be ready to take the pains.