Maintaining Good Health Even When You're Busy

3 Signs That You Should Get Your Child's Hearing Tested

by Caitlin Obara

Hearing loss in children, even a slight one, can lead to significant problems, including speech delays. Those problems can lead to issues in school and in later life. For your child, it can sound like they are hearing everything from the bottom of a pool, speech is muffled and distorted. That's what leads to speech delays and problems. They hear words incorrectly, so that's how your child thinks the word sounds. Your child may not be able to tell you that they are having hearing problems, especially if they are too young to have the words to tell you these things; if their hearing loss is slight, you may not even realize that there is a problem immediately. So, what are some signs that you should take your child in to get their hearing tested?

Not Startled By Sudden, Loud Noises

Almost every person with regular hearing gets surprised by loud, sudden noises like smoke alarms, sirens, and other similar noises. If your child isn't startled or doesn't even seem to notice those surprise noises, it may be because they have a level of hearing loss. Your child may not hear the higher, shriller pitches, or may hear it as muffled. 

Speaks/Babbles Loudly

All children speak or babble loudly at some point, they don't really get the whole volume level control yet, but they probably aren't babbling or speaking loudly or nearly yelling all the time. Someone who has a hard time hearing tends to speak very loudly because that's the only way that they can hear themselves speak. It can be disconcerting for your child to know that they are speaking, but they aren't able to hear the sounds that they are making. 

Doesn't Speak or Babble

On the other hand, your child may not speak or babble much at all. This is especially true for kids who have a more moderate to severe hearing loss. That's because they just aren't sure what words or sounds really sound like. Some children are just naturally quiet kids, that's just their nature, but for kids with hearing loss, it's different. Those kids just really don't talk or babble much at all. If you talk to them, they won't really echo you or reply to you. 

If you suspect your child has hearing loss, you should immediately take them to an audiologist to get their hearing tested. Finding out and correcting any hearing loss as soon as possible can help your child later in life. For more information, check out http://www.drmarkmontgomery.com

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