A digital portfolio
This project was created to help bring more understanding to the impact that a hearing loss has on a child's development. Through databases and other means of research, hopefully this portfolio will help bring a better understanding of how normal hearing helps with communication and learning abilities.
As acoustic sound waves move through the air, our outer ear (the pinna), catches waves and bounces them into the ear canal (external auditory meatus). The sound is amplified as it goes from a large space into a tightly packed canal and bounces up against the tympanic membrane. When the membrane buckles and vibrates, it causes the three bones in the middle ear to rock back and forth against each other. This is when acoustic sound energy is transformed into mechanical energy as the malleus, incus, and stapes move to push up against the oval window. This is where sound gets transferred into hydraulic energy. The liquid in the inner ear system moves in waves until it finds its resonating frequency on the Basilar's Membrane. The hair cells on this membrane sheer and turn the hydraulic energy into bioelectrical energy so the sound can be sent up to the brain via the auditory nerve. Once the sound is sent to the brain, it interprets the sound and that it how we hear.
As children develop and start to hear and understand language, taking away the devices they need to hear, AKA their ears stunts that growth and understanding. As a child develops, their brain takes statistics of words and sounds that are commonly used within their native language. When children are born with or develop a hearing loss it can affect their ability to use speech, language skills, and understanding of social skills.[1]
The skills that lead an infant into the talking stage start with pre-linguistic skills. This methods of communication start with small actions such as: gesturing, vocalization/crying, eye contact, and pointing. As they continue to develop, babies learn to discriminate between faces and know which faces are important. Babies also begin to smile at a young age. What this means is that the child is starting to take a grasp on social interactions. Eventually these skills will lead a baby/infant to begin to anticipate types of situations by sounds alone, they will start to copy actions such as handclapping and repeating simple sounds.[27]
As a child develops, they rely on their parents/caregivers to provide them feedback of some sorts. Babies are taking in data about language from the time their ears turn on in the womb. How parents talk to their baby and around their baby shifts how the baby begins to understand language. Doing things like reading books to and with a child, teach them songs or sing to them, and allowing them to go on play dates with other children and adults can help boost the language the baby is exposed to.[28] Encouraging their baby to continue babbling and pronouncing unintelligible words helps the child want to talk more, boosting their listening and language skills significantly.