Language is a very critical aspect of a child’s growth. To many, this sounds like a minute area of observance right until when they fall victim to its implications and eventually realize what was being meant by the same. As previously conducted research studies have indicated, language is very fundamental and paramount regarding shaping a child's behaviour. This theory has, however, not been fully solidified but it remains to form a strong foundational base for the argument. To effectively come to a defined conclusion, it is important to understand in the first instance what language is. As defined by Goldstein (2015), language is the use of sounds and symbols as a means of communication so as to bring out certain human expressions such as thoughts, experiences, feelings, and ideas.
Children with hearing loss are said to be the most affected by the lack of language and are a good example of how language correlates to behavioural development. As it is known, a child who suffers from hearing loss has a tough time trying to develop speech (Cupples et al., 2014). The reason for this is because, without the hearing ability, one cannot be able to comprehend what others are saying. A child learns how to speak from the environment in which they grow in. This explains why a child always adopts the language that is spoken by the parents or guardians as their mother tongue. The reason why they are very much challenged to adopt speech is because they cannot in the first place establish a connection between sound and the information contained it. The reason why most people can speak today is because they were born without a hearing problem. From this, it can be deduced that hearing and speaking are mutually dependent. For one to eventually develop speech, hearing must precede.
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The statistics of children developing hearing loss over the years has been rather small. According to Kushalnagar et al. (2010), in the year 1989, one out of every 1000 new-born babies was born completely deaf. Still, of this 1000 new-born babies, 6 had different levels of hearing loss. This implies that by then, 7 out of every 1000 new-born babies developed hearing loss issues. However, despite the number looking quite small, some of the other babies start showing hearing problems as they grow up. It is as a result of this that hearing loss has over the years become one of the most prevalent birth disorders experienced in the United States of America (Kushalnagar et al., 2010).
In some other countries, the situation is much worse. For instance, in South Africa, an estimated number of 6000 babies are born having a permanent hearing loss (Butler, 2012). In other words, this statistical data from South Africa implies that there is a probability of having 6000 children every year in America who do not develop speech and are at risk of experiencing uncertain behavioural trends. Both South Africa and the United States are developed countries that are capable of instituting any new medical technologies in their countries but are still faced with such issues. Third world countries are then most affected by such issues and they are unable to do something about it given the expenses in adopting technology like hearing screening equipment. This is just but proof of how dangerous the situation is in the country and worldwide generally.
As it will be discussed in this paper and evidentially proven, children with such disabilities also tend to have some specific behavioural traits that distinguish them from the rest of their peers. For instance, it is noticeable that these children end up having sequential anger moments, are characteristic of depression, and always tend to lead a life of seclusion. Some of them even go to the extents of becoming violent and cause harm to their peers. Not many guardians, parents, or teachers are aware of this development in such students and this could result in a case of misunderstanding. This paper focuses on the psycholinguistics associated with language and the various behavioural trends that arise as a result of the same in children who suffer from hearing loss due to some factors such as high frequency in sound. It seeks to bring to an understanding how hearing loss brings about such undesired behaviours in the hearing impaired.
Physiology of hearing loss
Hearing loss for most young children goes unnoticed until they are at the age of two. As a result, most children grow and develop with this unbecoming disability until it reaches a point when the early diagnosis cannot be conducted. Most parents or guardians realize that there is a problem when the child is not talking by the time they are two. Intervention at this stage produces very minimally or no results. As Mroz (2017) points out, for a child who is experiencing hearing loss, it is best if intervention occurs before they are past six months of age. Once a child is past six months old, the outcomes of intervention from previous cases are much poorer than that conducted before the six months are over. It is as a result of this finding that physicians have now led to a hearing screening of young new born babies, especially in the United States. This way, children with the disability are identified at very tender ages, and the condition is treated to ensure that they do not end up falling victims to the implications stated in the introductory segment of the paper.
At birth, a child’s body is very fragile and so are the nerves and every other body parts. The ear is no different from the rest. Some areas of the ear like the inner ear remain to be fragile even once a person embraces adulthood. This is to say that the year is thus very delicate and at such young stages, it is very easy for a child to experience hearing loss. The inner ear has more than 20,000 nerves that circulate the cochlear, which is a very crucial part of the inner ear. The cochlear is naturally snail shaped, an occurrence that makes it fit to accommodate the nerves. This nerves that surround the cochlear nerve are responsible for transmitting different sound impulses which thus makes it possible for physicians to obtain measurements for the amount of sound that is registered in both the outer and inner year (Shah, 2015).
Types of hearing loss
There are three major types of hearing loss: Conducted hearing loss, sensorineural, and auditory dyssynchrony. Conducted or conductive hearing loss occurs when the outer or middle ear have developed a particular problem that hinders one from hearing. This condition could result from increased amounts of earwax, infections being experienced in the year, a punctured eardrum, or the occurrence of a bone growth that is describable as abnormal leading to an ear condition termed as otosclerosis (Kushalnagar et al., 2010). The major way of treating individuals who suffer from this condition is through surgery. Auditory dyssynchrony, which is also called auditory processing disorder comes about when a victim’s brain is not able to process information that is presented with sound as the medium of transmission (Kushalnagar et al., 2010).
However, the key focus of this paper is to the sensorineural hearing loss. Most physicians consider it as the most severe type of hearing loss given that it is almost permanent and can rarely be treated even with surgery. This kind of hearing loss occurs when a sensitive and essential part of the ear becomes damaged or experiences a malfunction (Kushalnagar et al., 2010). The ear parts that mostly result in this are the cochlea and the auditory nerve. Once either of these becomes damaged, the ear is unable to send information to the brain for processing. This implies that sound goes through the outer ear to the inner ear, but the individual is unable to comprehend the information contained in it. In some cases, people who find themselves with this type of hearing loss obtain it from their family members, implying that it is genetically passed on. In other cases, it is caused by ear diseases or accidents that might occur causing harm to these parts. Loud noise is also one of the primary reasons. For a child, the ear is not capable of containing a lot of noise from their surroundings.
Despite lacking an actual way of treating it, sensorineural hearing loss can be mitigated through the use of various hearing technologies (Kushalnagar et al., 2010). These include the use of hearing aids, cochlear and hybrid cochlear implants which significantly help in reducing the effect of sensorineural hearing loss. There is also a fourth type of hearing loss referred to as mixed hearing loss. As the name suggests, these are brought about by mixed causes. It comes about when one is faced with hearing loss that is both sensorineural and conductive. In most cases, this type is mostly permanent, but the conductive part of it could be temporary.
Psychology of hearing loss
As it was earlier on mentioned, the loss of hearing has a direct impact on their psychological being. For such individuals, it is always difficult for them to be part of conversations or rather contain themselves in a social setting. In most cases, if they find themselves in such environments, people with hearing loss end up being stressed as they realize how unfit they are to be in such a place. The tension that mounts as a result of the misplaced feeling is what in many cases results in the many psychological disorders that are experienced by these hearing impaired persons. The first disorder is that of panic. Once they realize how different they are from the rest, and the inability to participate in what they have perceived to be an exciting for the rest of the people, the deaf persons develop a fear that they are unable to control. From this, the impaired starts having weird thoughts about themselves.
This consequently results in the development of social phobia. The victim starts avoiding any social setting or any gathering that might trigger an embarrassing moment for them. They start becoming so obsessed with their performance in these environments, and the only way they are sure not to feel excluded and secluded is by not being part of them in the first place. Again, it has been noted that the impaired are also characteristic of compulsive behaviours, a disorder that is referred to as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This is a kind of mental disorder where one engages in certain disruptive behaviours repeatedly, over and over. This is triggered by the having of unwanted thoughts, feelings or ideas that one wants to do away with.
In a study done in the year 2002 by the Institute of Hearing Loss, it was found that 11% of the people who have hearing loss were victims of depression (Calando, 2002). This is an indication that there is a probability that a child with hearing loss could fall victim of the same shortly too. Other than depression, Calando (2002) also found out that the developed self-esteem issues. The do not believe or have confidence in their abilities and thus fail to perform well in fields where they are presumably good at. Moreover, they also lack self-respect, a factor that makes their peers belittle them.
However, it is very imperative to note that not every child develops psychological issues as a result of the loss of their hearing ability. The probability of showing such disorders is largely dependent on how well the child can cope with the environment they grow in and with their situation as well. Another very fundamental factor in ensuring that the child steers from developing this disorders are by making sure that they receive the necessary parental care, concern, and interaction. If a child is rejected right from home, they then have a high probability of developing this behavioural trends as they start having the unwanted thoughts that are the primary cause of the psychological effects.
A study case example
Not much research has been done about this particular topic of interest over the past few years. A possible reason for this can be the reduced number of hearing loss cases as a consequence of the hearing screening programs. However, there are a few researchers who have in the past looked into the matter.
In the quest to determine how valid the claim that hearing loss has an effect on behavioural trends in hearing impaired children, the School of Audiology at South Hampton University in the UK conducted research. The study was primarily based on a test that was purposely structured in regards to language development and the onset of behavioural problems in children with hearing loss. The study group consisted of a total number of 187 children. Of this number, 120 had been diagnosed with hearing loss whereas the other 67 had normal hearing. The gender was mixed up, with the study group comprising of a mixture of both boys and girl. The average age was eight years old. It was a risky undertaking that the institution took up given that the children who had already depicted severe language disabilities were prone to developing psychiatric issues in the future (Stevenson, 2010).
The group of researchers then formed two separate teams with each focusing one divide of the study sample. They conducted interviews with the parents of the children, the children themselves, as well as their teachers. As for the children who had been diagnosed with having severe hearing disabilities, sign tests were administered. The researchers then compiled audiology reports from these interviews. This trend went on for five years, with the researchers keeping note of any significant changes that they had observed over the years regarding behavioural traits portrayed by both the hearing impaired and normal hearing children.
In their findings, the group of four researchers indicated that whereas hearing loss was characteristic of behavioural trends, the severity of the condition did not imply increased behavioural changes. It was found out that the main factor that brought about these unbecoming behaviours was the level of their interaction with other children.
Discussion
The findings of this research are a clear depiction of the psychological effects that arise as a result of failure to fit in a particular social setting, as it was aforementioned. Hearing loss is by itself not the main reason why children with hearing loss end up showing some weird and unexpected behaviour changes. However, the aspect of experiencing the loss of the ability to hear can be considered as a risk factor for the onset of these psychological disorders. As stated in the case study above, the level of interaction that the hearing impaired establish with their peers is what causes the disorders to start showcasing. For a child who interacted with the others freely and most of the time, the probability of them displaying some unexpected behaviours was quite low. However, those that showed limited interactions were the most affected.
The reason for this kind of trends was earlier on discussed in the paper. Once a child fails to identify with a particular group of people, they start feeling as if they are unwanted and are a misfit in the world. Everyone always has the need to have a sense of belonging and self-actualization according to the Maslow's theory of human motivation. Not until this requirement is satisfied, one will always feel like they are less important in the society. This is the same case that happens with children who suffer from hearing loss. Once they fail to fit in a particular social setting, they feel as if they a set from the word apart and cannot do anything about. Whereas some might be the most interactive persons by nature, they lose this track because their self-esteem is drastically lowered.
From this, it is quite evident that interaction is a very paramount aspect when it comes to raising up children with hearing loss. This aspect of living starts beings emphasized right from their homes. Parents need to learn how always to remain interactive with their children and always to show care, concern, and love for them. This way, the children start identifying themselves with other social settings that are even far from home. It is also imperative that these children establish interactions with their peers. Though it might be a difficult undertaking for them due to their failure to process what others are saying (in the case of severing hearing loss), this is one of the strategies if successfully instituted that can help them overcome the possibility of psychological disorders.
Conclusion
From the various discussions that have been conducted all through this paper, one can best conclude that the level of severity of hearing loss depicts how far apart they are from the world of communication. For individuals without that much of a severe hearing loss, the use of hearing aids has proved to be one of the best and most viable strategies to use to ensure that their communication levels are boosted. Those who cannot hear completely and the situation is described as permanent have a difficult time trying to get along with the rest of the people. Regardless of this, any psychiatric issues that arise in children with hearing loss are primarily as a result of social seclusion and isolation.
As a result, this calls for parents and caregivers to embark on improving their social skills to avoid the creation of isolated environments for them. Hearing impaired children should be allowed to express themselves and receive maximum support from those around them. Interactions between the child and those around him or her also need to be emphasized and worked upon. Significantly, it is critical for parents to ensure that they take their child for hearing screening as early as they are born so as to make sure that any indications of hearing problems are tackled in advance before they become permanent. This presents itself as the best way to ensuring that children do not fall victim to hearing loss and end up becoming bearers of unbecoming behavioural trends as discussed herein in this paper.
References
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Cupples, L. et al. (2014). Outcomes of 3-year-old children with hearing loss and different types of additional disabilities. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education , 19(1), 20-39.
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Kushalnagar, P. et al. (2010). Infants and children with hearing loss need early language access. Journal of Clinical Ethics , 21(2), 143-154.
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Stevenson, J., McCann, D., Watkin, P., & Worsfold, S. (2010). The relationship between language development and behaviour problems in children with hearing loss. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 51(1), 77-83.
