Children who are deaf will often be mute?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor II Le Thanh Cam - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital.
It is estimated that Vietnam has more than 39,000 deaf children, of which 15,500 children aged 0-6 are deaf or hard of hearing, have little access to preschool education. Screening for congenital deafness is more important than ever.

1.Overview

Children with deafness are often divided into 2 types: one caused by congenital deafness and one that is caused by some other cause later on:
Congenital deafness is a rather rare birth defect. There are many causes of congenital deafness such as:
Genetic problems: the mother suffered from an ear disease at a young age or in the family, the family has hereditary deafness and infectious deafness. Because the mother during pregnancy has received substances (eg medicines, alcohol, tobacco, streptomycin poisoning...) that can damage the auditory nerve of the fetus. Because the newborn's head is damaged due to the difficult birth process, causing congenital deafness. Deafness later on has two possible causes. One is due to external damage causing severe damage to the ear, causing hearing loss. Second, during adulthood, the patient suffers from a disease affecting the auditory brain area, or the auditory nerve (eg, otitis media, meningitis, flu...), at a high level. Severe cases can damage the sound transmission system in the ear.

2. Are deaf children usually dumb?

It is a fact that most children who are deaf are mute. In fact, a deaf person is not necessarily born mute. The reason is that in some cases, parents have lost faith in their deaf children, so they don't want to talk, creating opportunities for their children to learn to speak, making them dumb.
For children who are deaf before they can speak (usually before 2 years old), it is still called congenital deafness, then mute is a consequence of early deafness in children. Because children do not receive sound signals, they cannot imitate and practice, thereby causing mute.
But if parents have enough love and patience to train their deaf children, it is possible through oral language training for children to understand what normal people say. Then, through lessons and training at schools dedicated to the deaf and mute, children learn how to pronounce, even though they are born deaf, they can still speak.

3.How to detect deaf children

Many parents often pay attention to the child's speech and ignore whether the child is listening or not. From there, to miss the "golden period" to screen for congenital deafness before 6 months of age for children.
Children with hearing loss, if detected early, with timely treatment and interventions, will be able to recover, even hear, speak and develop like normal children, although the acquisition will be slower. compared with normal children.
In general, at any age, it is necessary to pay attention to the child's hearing ability when detecting ear symptoms. For example, children with anomalies of the ear or outer ear canal, nasopharyngitis, pain or ear infection ... are signs parents need to pay special attention to.
Method of screening for congenital deafness:
Newborns: Observe the child's reflexes when hearing and moving. Normal babies will blink, move their limbs, startle or cry at noises. But children with hearing loss will not have these signs. Children from a few months to 1 year old: At this age, children know how to pay attention, turn their heads in the direction of pronunciation of instruments such as bells and rattles. When hearing sounds that are too loud such as thunder, car horns, falling objects... the child will wake up startled or cry. Children with hearing loss will not have these reflexes.

Children 1-3 years old: This is the age when children learn to speak and babble in simple words. If the child has a hearing loss, he or she will show signs of speech delay, stuttering or not speaking at all. Not even responding when adults call, ask questions or only respond to loud sounds. Children over 3 years old: The above signs of hearing abnormalities are becoming more and more obvious, such as: the child is too livid, can only speak some words that are not clear. Children of school age: Children clearly show poor hearing ability, slow in absorbing lessons, worse than classmates, inattentive, easily angry, do not want to interact, talk or participate in activities. collective action...

4.How to treat deaf children

In Vietnam, there are currently 2 forms of early congenital deafness interventions for children. Depending on the severe or mild hearing condition, the specialist will offer the appropriate treatment:
Method according to modern science, using advanced hearing equipment such as cochlear implants. The method of sign language combined with speech therapy teaches children to speak, requires a lot of patience and attention from the family. Thus, if only looking at the appearance, the newborn will not clearly show whether there is a hearing loss or not. When parents grow up, they find that their children are slow compared to their peers, and when they take them to the doctor, they miss the opportunity for treatment. In the long run, being born deaf will lead to muteness. Therefore, it is best from the moment the child is born, the family should take the child for a hearing test to have an early opportunity to screen for congenital deafness.
Vinmec International General Hospital is a high-quality medical facility in Vietnam with a team of highly qualified medical professionals, well-trained, domestic and foreign, and experienced.
A system of modern and advanced medical equipment, possessing many of the best machines in the world, helping to detect many difficult and dangerous diseases in a short time, supporting the diagnosis and treatment of doctors the most effective. The hospital space is designed according to 5-star hotel standards, giving patients comfort, friendliness and peace of mind.

Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.