The development of hearing and speech during the newborn and infancy period is very important for healthy older individuals in society.
In the newborn (0-6 months):
Reacts to sudden loud sounds (movement
Wakes up in noise.
Imitates sounds freely.
Calms down with sound.
Turns head towards the direction of the sound.
6-12 Between months:
When asked, he can show a person or object he knows.
Starts to cry.
By 12 months:
Understands simple expressions such as “wave your hand”.
Infancy period (13 months-2 years):
Looks at the first call even when called with a soft voice.
Reacts to the sounds in the environment.
Understands where the sound comes from.
At 18 months:
/> He begins to use a few simple words for familiar people and objects.
He listens to the television at normal volume or constantly goes close to the television.
He has approximately the same language development as his peers.
It can be determined whether your baby has hearing loss. . Hearing tests are performed after a simple ear examination. Today, there are two test methods: The first is otoacoustic emission, which measures the inner ear (cochlea) operation, and the second is BERA (brainstem evoked response audiometry), which precisely shows hearing thresholds at the brainstem level. Otoacoustic emission is a test that can be used starting from the newborn period, gives results in a short time and does not cause any discomfort to the baby. Since its value in hearing measurement is lower than BERA, it is also used as a screening test. BERA test in babies is performed under general anesthesia. However, when hearing loss is seriously suspected, BERA is the test of choice. Depending on the child's development, play audiometry can be performed from the age of 3 or 4. Situations at risk for hearing loss are: Genetic risk (if one or more people in the family have hearing loss that occurs in the early ages of life), during pregnancy (if the mother has had a viral disease such as scarlet fever or cold), if the mother has used alcohol, birth and new If there is a deformity involving the face and head during the birth (0-28 days) period (if the birth weight is less than 1500 grams), the neonatal intensive care unit must be kept for more than 5 days. If the patient has had neonatal jaundice at a level that requires transfusion, if he/she has had meningitis during infancy and infancy (received intravenous antibiotic treatment), if he/she has had a skull trauma (it is not necessary for blood to come from the ear), if he/she has had an ear infection with ear discharge for more than three months, If your baby has neurological disorders or if his/her language development is behind that mentioned above, it would be beneficial to have your baby's hearing tested. BERA should be applied to babies who do not respond to environmental sounds such as the doorbell, telephone or their mother's call, even though they are 6 months old. It would be appropriate to perform an ear examination and hearing test on children who do not speak any words even though they are 18 months old. Under ideal conditions, all children should have a hearing test before starting school. The causes of hearing loss in babies are divided into two: conductive type (related to the outer and/or middle ear) and sensory-neural type (related to the inner ear and/or auditory nerve).
The cause of conductive type losses is; Closure of the ear canal with earwax or foreign objects, eardrum perforations, fluid accumulation in the middle ear cavity, disruption of the continuity of the ossicular chain in the middle ear, and dysfunction of the eustachian tube. Conduction type losses are losses that can be reversed with drug therapy or surgical treatment. The leading cause of sensory-neural type losses is functional disorders or congenital anomalies in the inner ear. Drug toxicity, inner ear type hearing loss due to diseases, and inner ear damage due to fractures come later. Sensory-neural hearing losses are permanent.
The importance of detecting hearing loss at an early stage is that hearing in babies is essential for speech development. Because children learn by imitation and need good hearing for correct pronunciation. Some hearing loss in infancy (e.g. earwax) can be easily eliminated in the examination room. Some of them can be corrected with medication or, if necessary, surgical treatment (for example, fluid accumulation in the middle ear cavity, insertion of a ventilation tube). In the presence of sensorineural hearing loss, there is usually no complete deafness; the baby has enough hearing capacity to use it. In this case, early Normal development of speech is ensured by using e-hearing aids. If hearing loss is not noticed within the first three years and hearing is not increased to normal, it is necessary to provide special training for speech development. If neural type hearing loss is at the level of bilateral complete deafness and there is no structural anomaly in the inner ear, the child can hear and speak normally or even close to normal by fitting and training a bionic ear (cochlear implant). However, the results obtained with the bionic ear are more satisfactory in cases of deafness that develops after learning to speak. There is no harm or harm to the baby in having a hearing test. More precisely, it can be said as follows: Nothing is lost by having a hearing test, but if there is hearing loss in the baby, it enables early diagnosis.
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