Children born with severe hearing impairments can have normal hearing and speech if they undergo a cochlear implant before they reach the age when they learn to speak, doctors at SSKM Hospital said.
The hospital organised a programme on Thursday on the occasion of World Hearing Day. Eighty-nine children who underwent cochlear implants at SSKM Hospital over the last seven years had come to celebrate the day. The children sang, danced and recited verses at the event.
All of them were born with severe hearing impairments.
Doctors said only those children in whom hearing aids failed to achieve desired results had to undergo the cochlear implant. But timely intervention ensured that many of them have fully developed hearing and speech.
“We started doing cochlear implants in 2015. Since then 89 children have undergone the implant in our hospital. They had come for today’s programme,” said Anirban Das, an assistant professor of ENT at SSKM Hospital.
Das said the implant could be done at any age but for children born with hearing impairments early detection could help them develop normal speech. “Children who are unable to hear will not be able to talk either, he added.
Doctors said that parents would be able to understand if their child had any hearing issues.
Usually babies start speaking monosyllables and bi-syllables by the time they are one-and-a-half-years old. If babies do not start to speak by this age or if they do not respond to sounds, parents should see a doctor to find out if there is anything wrong with the child.