Understanding Sensory Impairment Part 2

Causes if Hearing Impairment

a) Prenatal-

b) Perinatal causes

· Premature or instrumental delivery

· Delayed or feeble birth cry

· Low Birth weight

c) Post natal causes

· Deformities of ear, nose, face and throat

· Jaundice, high fever or convulsions after birth

· Infectious diseases (e.g. whooping cough, mumps, measles, syphilis meningitis viral fever, T.B.)

· Injury to the ear

· Exposure to loud sounds

· High blood pressure, Diabetes

· Ageing

· Tumors of the nerve supplying the ear

· Neglected ear discharge

Is Deafness Curable?

• Not all types

• Conductive Loss Curable by medicine or surgery

• Ear discharge or infections blocking the hearing could be curable with medicines

• Other hearing losses have to be handled with amplification devices like hearing aids / cochlear implants

Facts to be Remembered

• Deaf are not Dumb

• They can achieve Good Educational Standards

• Face them while talking- in light & slowly

• Use more audio-visual aids while teaching

• Both oral and manual methods are effective

• Treat Deaf Child as Child first-Focus on what she can do, rather what she can’t

Prevention of Hearing Loss

Ø Immunize the adolescent girls and women in child bearing age against rubella

Ø Avoid marriages amongst close relatives

Ø Get the blood group and Rh factor tested before third month of pregnancy

Ø Ensure good health of the expectant mother

Ø Expectant mother should avoid contact with infectious diseases

Ø Make sure that the delivery is performed by trained person preferably in hospital

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