Add Hearing Care to Your Back-to-School Checklist!

Hearing problems in children can easily go unnoticed. They have negative impacts on language comprehension and learning. Hearing care should be given the same importance as dental and vision care to make sure our children are ready for classes.

Unilateral or bilateral
Unilateral hearing loss affects one ear only. It can make it difficult to locate sounds, to distinguish similar-sounding words or to understand what someone is saying when there is other noise. On the other hand, bilateral hearing loss affects both ears and has greater consequences.

Mild to profound
While the consequences may vary according to the degree of hearing loss, it is important to know that even mild hearing loss can lead to problems in terms of language and speech development, thus hindering a child's ability to achieve academic success, even causing setbacks as early as the first years of elementary school.

Congenital or acquired
Hearing loss can be congenital—present at birth—or acquired, in which case the loss occurs after birth and progresses over time.

Permanent or temporary
Permanent hearing loss is a lifelong impairment. However, when a child has liquid in his or her ear as a result of an ear infection, he or she may experience temporary hearing loss. While the impairment is temporary, it may very well hinder learning and language development.

If you have any doubts regarding your little one's hearing, don't hesitate to see a specialist. Early detection can prevent irreversible long-term damage. At the Marie-Josée Paul hearing clinics, our hearing care professionals will provide you with all the necessary information on how to go about receiving diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible.

For warning signs, see Hearing loss in children.