Single-sided deafness (SSD), also known as unilateral hearing loss (UHL), is a type of hearing loss where the person has normal hearing in one ear but hearing loss in the other ear. This type of hearing loss can occur in both children and adults and may vary from a very mild hearing loss to an extremely severe hearing loss. This article will focus on children with single-sided deafness.
Hearing loss cannot be seen. About three percent of all school-aged children suffer from single-sided deafness. These children are often not identified and therefore have no form of intervention, thereby resulting in them having their own special needs and their own creative ways of having to deal with those needs. The unfortunate result is that these children will usually have poorer grades, suffer from speech-language delays, bear more social-emotional difficulties, and will be perceived as having more frequent behavioral issues than their normal hearing peers.
Causes
Single-sided deafness is often caused by one of the following:
o Acoustic neuroma;
o Certain types of syndromes;
o Ear deformity or abnormality;
o Exposure to loud noise;
o Family history of hearing loss;
o Head trauma/traumatic brain injury (TBI);
o Illnesses/infections;
o Labyrinthitis;
o Mastoiditis;
o Measles;
o Meningitis;
o Mumps.
Effects of single-sided deafness on children
A child afflicted with single-sided deafness will have an extremely difficult time locating where the source of sound is coming from. The child will hear the sound but will not be sure of its exact origin. For example, the ringing of an alarm or a telephone, or even calling the child in the house may be a challenge as he/she tries to determine where the source of the sound is coming from. Walking to and from school can also be a problem, placing the child in danger as he/she may not be able to identify which direction the sound of the traffic is coming from. When listening to music using stereo headphones, the child will only hear from the good ear. This means that only one channel will be heard, causing the child to lose important volume and time differences between the two channels.
Still, even greater challenges for a child with SSD exists when he/she is listening to conversational speech in a noisy environment, or trying to hear someone speak from a distance. Although children with SSD have normal hearing in one ear, whenever noise is present it becomes nearly impossible for the child to follow a conversation and understand what is being said. Problems also arise if the speaker is further away, or in another room. The child will hear some of what is being said, but ends up missing other parts of what is said, thereby missing the significance of what was said. This often leads to deficits in the child's communication abilities as well as leaving the child with feelings of frustration and irritability. To reduce the effects of these listening challenges, children with single-sided deafness need help to clearly hear and understand what is said at home by family members, at school by their teachers and peers and even by their friends when hanging out.
Educational impact of single-sided deafness
The educational impact on children with SSD who receive no intervention is also significant. Studies show that these children are 10 times more likely to fail a grade level in school and need additional assistance to keep up academically to perform at their highest potential. Up to one-third of children with SSD who did not receive any help to hear better end up having problems learning in school, and about one-fifth of them display behavior and/or social problems.
To reduce the impact of SSD on the educational aspirations of these children, it is recommended that children with SSD who still have some usable hearing in the affected ear begin to wear a hearing aid as early as possible, preferably from infancy. The hearing aid will provide more balanced hearing and will allow the child to pick up incidental language around him/her that will otherwise be missed. Placing a hearing aid on the poorer ear also prevents some, if not all, of the possible language delays and behavioral/social issues that may otherwise occur. Waiting to amplify the child's poorer hearing ear until he/she is older may be too late. The brain takes a considerable time to learn how to use auditory information to localize sound and to listen in noise, therefore the sooner these skills can be sharpened the better.
Classroom tips
o Seat the child so that the better hearing ear will almost always face the teacher.
o Allow the child to change seat locations so that the normal hearing ear is toward the primary speaker.
o Close the classroom door to reduce outside noises.
o Seat the child away from windows and away from items within the classroom that make noise -- fans, projectors, etc.
o Encourage the child to turn in his/her seat to face a classmate who is speaking.
o Teacher should summarize key points spoken by classmates.
o Teacher should select a "buddy" who is good at note taking so that the child with SSD has access to information he/she may have missed.
o Where appropriate, use of personal amplification and/or an FM system should be used to enhance the teacher's voice.
Remember, hearing loss cannot be seen. If you suspect your child may be suffering from single-sided deafness, or if you have concerns regarding your child's hearing and would like his/her hearing evaluated, please contact an audiologist.
o For further information on any hearing-related disorder, please contact Dr. Deborah Nubirth, doctor of audiology, at 356-2276 or 677-6627 in New Providence at Comprehensive Family Medical Clinic, Poinciana Drive or 351-7902 in Grand Bahama; or email dnubirth@yahoo.com.
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