Your Child's Hearing Health Checklist |
|
Home : Articles : Your Child's Hearing Health Checklist INTRODUCTION Good hearing is crucial to acquisition and development of speech in children. For your child to have a normal speech development, s/he must be able to receive information unhindered which is dependent on a normal functioning auditory system. Parents are sometimes confused about how to go about establishing the status of their children's hearing. You may use following checklist to assess your child's hearing status from birth to age one (1). If his/her hearing system is functioning normally: 1. Shortly After Birth Your baby should be startled by a sudden loud noise such as a hand clap or a door slamming, and should blink or open his/her eyes widely to such sounds. 2. When S/he Is 1 Month Old Your baby should begin to notice sudden prolonged sounds, like the noise of a humming radio, and s/he should pause and listen to them when they occur. 3. When S/he Is 4 Months Old Your child should by now become quiet (e.g stop crying) or smile when he/she hears your voice, even if s/he can not see you. S/he should be able to turn his/her eyes sideways when you talk either from his/her side or behind. 4. When S/he Is 7 Months Old Your child should turn immediately to the source of your voice in a room, or turn in the direction of quiet noises made around if he/she is not too occupied with other things. 5. When S/he Is 9 Months Old S/he should listen attentively to familiar everyday sounds made out of sight. S/he should also show pleasure in babbling loudly and excitedly. 6. When S/he Is 12 Months Old S/he should show some response to his/her name being called, and to other familiar words. Your child by this age/time may also respond when you say 'NO' and 'BYE' even when he/she can not see any accompanying gestures (such as a shaking finger, or hand waving). CONCLUSION If you feel your child's hearing development progress does not follow that indicated in the above checklist, you may need to see an audiologist who will carry out hearing tests on the child. Want To Know More Or Get Started? BSA Hearing and Speech Centre offers Hearing Loss Diagnosis, and fitting of hearing aids, to a varied - and growing - range of individual/organisational clientele. Click here now to request more information about how we can help you. Date Published: 13th December 2006 |
