Detection of deafness at an early age followed by prompt treatment can lead to normal hearing and development of normal speech among children born with hearing impairment, an ENT surgeon said on Wednesday at an awareness programme on treating deafness.
Usually, children who are born with hearing impairment have speech disorders. A deaf child also remains mute. Doctors said speech development is directly related to hearing and if a child cannot hear, he or she will not be able to speak.
On Wednesday, an 8-yearold boy who was born with “profound deafness” recited an English and a Bengali poem at the awareness programme.
N.V.K. Mohan, a senior otologist, ENT and cochlear implant surgeon at the Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI), said the child was leading a normal life now.
“His parents brought him to us when he was six months. He underwent a cochlear implant and has since been doing absolutely fine. A 13-year-old girl, who also underwent a cochlear implant at an early age is also leading a normal life,” said Mohan. He also spoke about another teenage boy who is leading a normal life with hearing aids.
Mohan said hearing aids and cochlear implants were two ways to treat deafness. Depending on the nature of the problem, doctors suggest a hearing aid or implant, he said.
While a hearing aid is required for people with problems in the outer ear, the implant is needed for people who have problems in their inner ear. “It is not a cochlear implant against hearing aid. We go for a cochlear implant only when we see that a hearing aid will not provide the best results,” said Mohan.
He said he always urged parents to start treatment as early as possible in case they feel that their wards have hearing problems.
Some of the common ways to understand hearing problems were if a child did not respond to sounds in the absence of a visual cue.
“Nowadays there are pain free tests that can be done before the mother leaves the hospital with the child. Proper hearing can completely change the lives of those born with hearing problems,” said Mohan.