Article received from Estelle Novella: Published 27 October 2011

Have you had your child’s hearing tested?
Today we are focusing on hearing in infants and children. We tend to remember to have our
children’s eyes tested and take them to the dentist, but we take hearing for granted. I would like to
highlight some facts about hearing, firstly about how an infant should reacts to sound, indicating
proper auditory development. Secondly I would like to look at factors that can negatively impact our
children’s hearing. We are seeing more and more children in our practices with noise induced
hearing loss. These are very often children that lead pretty normal lives. They don’t go to loud
parties and don’t really use MP3’s etc., yet the environment they find themselves in have become
so noisy that it is affecting their hearing. I hope this highlights a few factors for you, and brings
home the fact that regular hearing tests should be part of your and your children’s medical checkups.

Around 6 out of 1,000 babies have a significant hearing loss at birth.
□ More then 4,000 babies are born with hearing loss each year.
□ Babies are not able to tell you they have hearing loss and the first year of life is critical to the
     development of normal speech and language.
□ Most hospitals offer and recommend newborn hearing screening tests.

If your infant has not had a hearing screening, or had a screening but is unable to do some of the examples
below (based on his or her age), schedule a follow-up appointment with an audiologist to have his or her
hearing checked. Hearing loss in infants is a hidden disability, and it is important to pay attention to their
development and get their hearing tested.

An infant with normal hearing should be able to do the following:
Around two months of age
□ Startles to loud sound
□ Quiets to familiar voices
□ Makes vowel sounds like “ohh”

Around four months of age
□ Looks for sound sources
□ Starts babbling
□ Makes squeals and chuckles

Around six months of age
□ Turns head toward loud sounds
□ Begins to imitate speech sound
□ Babbles sounds like “ba-ba”

Around nine months of age
□ Imitates speech sounds of others
□ Understands “no-no” or “bye-bye”
□ Turns head toward soft sounds

Around 12 months of age
□ Correctly uses “ma-ma” or “da-da”
□ Gives toy when asked
□ Responds to singing or music

Approximately 12% of all children aged 6-19 have noise-induced hearing loss!
□ Noise-induced hearing loss is permanent and is almost always preventable!
□ Hearing loss can happen at any age. A growing number of teens and kids are damaging their hearing by
     prolonged exposure to loud noise.
□ Noise-induced hearing loss is caused by damage to the hair cells that are found in our inner ear. Hair
     cells are small sensory cells that convert the sounds we hear (sound energy) into electrical signals that            travel to the brain. Once damaged our hair cells cannot grow back, causing permanent hearing loss.

How to protect your child’s hearing:
□ Have your child wear the proper hearing protection (earmuffs or earplugs) when in noisy environments (concerts,
      sporting events, fireworks displays, car races). Hearing protection come in a
      variety of sizes and textures to provide optimum fit. Custom-made earplugs can be obtained from an
      audiologist.
□ Teach your child to turn down the volume. (Visit www.TurnItToTheLeft.com)
□ Teach your child to walk away from loud noise.

Noise-induced hearing loss can be caused by prolonged exposure to any loud noise over
85 dB. The loudness of sound is measured in units called decibels (dB).
→ 60 dB—Normal conversations or dishwashers
→ 80 dB—Alarm clocks
→ 90 dB—Hair dryers, blenders, and lawnmowers
→ 100 dB—MP3 players at full volume
→ 110 dB—Concerts (any music genre), car racing, and sporting events
→ 120 dB—Jet planes at take off
→ 130 dB—Ambulances and fire engine sirens
→ 140 dB—Gun shots, fireworks, and custom car stereos at full volume

Childhood noise risks include:
ƒ Noisy toys
ƒ Sporting events
ƒ Band class
ƒ Motorbikes
ƒ Farm equipment
ƒ Movie theaters
ƒ Shop class
ƒ Arcades
ƒ Concerts
ƒ Firearms
ƒ Firecrackers and fireworks
ƒ Power tools
ƒ MP3 players/ ipods

Some facts in this article was obtained from the American Academy of Audiology.