Analysis of Articles on the Hard of Hearing

Title: Early identification of hearing loss in infants.

URL: http://www.lhh.org/earlyid/earlyid.htm

Author: The League for the Hard of Hearing

This article, produced by the League for the Hard of

Hearing, was obtained from their website. It was found by using the Google search engine. The search was initiated by entering the words "conductive hearing loss and speech and language and cognitive delay in children." This search brought up several web sites which related to the words entered and this one was selected because it had recent data and covered the topic in question. The article was printed directly from the web site.

This article is actually a fact sheet put out by the League for the Hard of Hearing and gives data on the prevalence of hearing loss in children, when and how it can be diagnosed, and the effects on the child of a delay in recognizing the hearing deficit problem. The article notes that from three to four children per 1000 will have a permanent hearing loss. It points out that in the United States, the average age of identification of significant hearing loss in children is between 18 months and 30 months of age. However, hearing tests are now mandated on newborns in 28 states. The test is fast, non-invasive and cost-effective. A delay in diagnosis of hearing loss can result in an irreversible effect on speech and language development that will affect cognitive abilities. The

. . .
o find an article which actually compared the two methods of treating hearing deficits, but this article mentioned a study of the two treatments, so it was selected and printed out directly from the website. The article discussed here was prepared by the Maryland Technology Assistance Program in their newsletter on the web. It appears to have originated from a Reuters report in March, 2000, and appeared in the May, 2000 newsletter. The article gives a brief description of a cochlear implant and how it works. It points out that the device cannot help the hearing impaired to hear speech clearly, but can improve their perception of sounds. This, it points out, helps children in their acquisition of speech and language skills, which can improve their developmental ability. With the implants, hearing impaired children can develop language skills at about the same rate as a child with normal hearing. The article quotes a study of the English language abilities of children with cochlear implants compared to those using hearing aids. The children with cochlear implants performed better than those with hearing aids, though less well than children with normal hearing. The children were examined at six-month intervals after implan
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
MedLine Plus, PhD Date, Hard Hearing, Assistance Program, MD Date, Technology Cochlear, Institutes Health, hearing loss, search engine, medline plus, Hearing Date, cochlear implants, acoustic nerve, google search engine, test performed, normal hearing, printed directly, google search, auditory processing, Psychological Corporation, League Hard, date 2000 article, using google search, central auditory processing, hearing aids children,
Approximate Word count = 1553
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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