May is Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM)
May is Better Hearing & Speech Month (BHSM) which provides an opportunity to raise awareness about communication disorders and the therapist that help provide life-altering treatment.
Signs of hearing loss in children
Some possible signs of hearing loss in a school-age child:
Does not follow simple commands, such as “get your shoes,” or understand simple direction
Is easily frustrated or experiences communication breakdowns
Is falling behind with speech and communication skills
Cannot understand what you are saying unless they are looking directly at you
Cannot identify where sounds are coming from
Is exhausted at the end of school from concentrating to understand speech
Shows signs of behavioral problems or social difficulties
Experiences problems keeping up at school or grades slipping
Some possible signs of hearing loss in an infant or toddler:
Does not react to loud sounds
Does not seek out or detect where sound is coming from
Has stopped babbling and experimenting with making sounds
Still babbles but is not moving to more understandable speech
Does not react to voices, even when being held
Ear is missing or malformed at birth
If your child has hearing loss, acting as early as possible is important. Research shows that children who are implanted early can learn to speak faster than those implanted later in life. In fact, performance scores in children implanted younger are closer to scores of normal hearing children.
New evidence shows that early treatment could put your child’s development on par with their hearing peers – giving them the opportunity to excel in life.
Speech Activity for your Little One
