Mimma Croce11/26/2013Hearing Loss and Language Development

Language is an intrinsic part of who we are, what has, for good or evil, happened to us. Alice Walker

What is Language Development?Language is the essence of our being. It is the dress to our thoughts and the wine to our lips. Language is an essential matter of our identity because it allows us to communicate among each another. Language can be defined as a socially shared code of conventional systems for representing concepts through the use of arbitrary symbols and rules governed by the combination of these symbols (Owens, 2008). Language is divided into three major components which are form, content and use. Form includes syntax, morphology and phonology, or in other words the components that connect sounds and symbols in order (Owens, 2008). Content encompasses meaning or semantics and the way its used is called pragmatics. When language is developed and used we are in essence coding ideas (semantics). We use a symbol, sound, or word to stand for an event, object or relationship. In order to communicate these ideas to others we use certain forms, which is composed with appropriate sounds known as (phonology), the appropriate word order known as (syntax), and the appropriate words and word beginning and ending (morphology) to clarify its meaning more specifically (Owens, 2008).With the fundamentals of language introduced, it is important to understand the cognitive path to language among infants. Infants experience tremendous cognitive grown during the first two years following their birth (Owens, 2008). This time period is a crucial learning interval where the basic structures of intelligence begins to evolve. These skills develop best in a world that is rich with sounds, sights, and consistent exposure to the speech and language of others. As they grow, children begin to sort out the speech sounds that they hear that compose the words of their language. By six months of age, babies should be able to recognize the basic sounds of their native language (Owens, 2008).Now, imagine a world without sound. A silent world where children are forced to learn a language and are misdiagnosed because they cant. If a child is missing the most fundamental factor of language development, (sounds), is it plausible for children to develop a language? The answer is YES! Legally defined, hard of hearing refers to an individual who has an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating that adversely affects their educational performance (Schirmer, 2001). Children who are hard of hearing find it much more difficult than children who have normal hearing to learn vocabulary, grammar, word order, idiomatic expressions, and other aspects of verbal communication. Hearing aids and accommodations may be used in both their educational and home environment. Legally defined, deaf refers to the lack of ability to hear. Deafness can be genetic, congenital, and prenatal or come from other causes (Schirmer, 2001). Cochlear implants are used as supplemental hearing devices that helps the cochlea function by stimulating nerve fibers and allowing the brain to recognize it as sound. (Schirmer, 2001).Let the Scenarios BeginIn order to fully comprehend language development in the educational setting among children with a hearing loss, I have created four examples that are quite common in our schools. I will describe a child, their hearing loss, time of onset, educational placement, hearing devices and the impact it all has on the childs language development. Scenario One Molly ThompsonMolly Thompson was born on November 2nd 2004. As the first born child and only granddaughter, Molly was already crowned the princess of the household. In other words, she was perfect! After her newborn hearing screening came back with a failing score, the doctor encouraged a retest by December 3rd 2004. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson heard that sometimes babies fail the test but it doesnt necessarily mean they have a hearing loss. Along with many other parents throughout the nation, they believed they would be able to detect on their own if Molly had a hearing loss. As the months went on, baby Molly grew with lots of hugs, kisses, and ribbons becoming as beautiful as she could be. While bragging about her six month old blue-eyed beauty at work one day, a coworker of Mrs. Thompson showed off her own blue eyed seven month old in a video. The child was responsive to her name, understood simple requests such as no, and sung lyrics to her favorite Dora song. Mrs. Thompson was dumbfounded. Molly is only one month younger and has not yet met any of these milestones. Later that night, Mollys parents decided to take her to an audiologist. After all, she did not pass her very first hearing screening at the hospital. Molly was diagnosed with a congenital, prelingual sensrioneual hearing loss. It was time for her parents to make important decisions that would affect their first born for the rest of her life. Molly was already 6 months behind in language development. By 6 Months she should have already been babbling sounds such as p b and m and pointing to objects without looking for adult confirmation. Decisions MadeMr. and Mrs. Thompson decided to implant Molly as soon as possible. She qualified for a cochlear implant and received one in her left ear. After a few months of recovery, Molly was activated. Within the next year and a half molly was increasing in her language development and was now able to recognize familiar sounds. She was able to find the correlation between what she heard and what she knew. When Molly reached her preschool age, it was time to choose an educational placement that would best suit her developmental needs. The Thompsons chose an auditory verbal approach in a public school across town. This approach is known as a therapy. Molly was able to focus exclusively on using audition to improve her speech and language development. She was able to detect environmental sounds and speech, and was able to maintain simple conversations with her AV therapist and peers. RationalIn this scenario Mollys parents made a common mistake of disregarding the newborn hearing screening results. However, they were able to pick up signs of her hearing loss at an early age and chose to have her implanted. When Molly received her cochlear implant she was able to attend a public school where she received auditory verbal therapy. Mollys language development improved drastically and was able to be mainstreamed by first grade. Molly had her very first birthday party that year with Miley Sirus songs, dance contests and full enjoyment as the song Happy Birthday was sung to her. She was the most perfect little blue eyed girl.Scenario Two Gregory Smith (Greg)Gregory Smith was a popular eight year old at Old Bethel Elementary school. His father passed away when he was five in a car accident so he lived with his mother who never remarried. Greg absolutely loved baseball and was a diehard New York Yankees fan. Greg played baseball after school and even had a baseball signed by Derek Jeter! One day in late October Gregs mother Pam received a phone call from the nurse that her son was having yet another earache. This was the 3rd one this year. Normally he runs a high fever, is prescribed an antibiotic for the infection in his ear and is sent back to school within five days or so. Pam brought little Greg home and allowed him to rest off the ear infection. Pam was running low on cash and was unable to pay for yet another doctors visit for the infection. After the fifth day, Gregory was still running a very high fever. With some financial help from Pam`s mother she took her son to his pediatrician. Gregory however did not have an ear infection anymore. He was sent to the emergency room after hearing the rest of his symptoms. Gregory not only suffered from a high fever but suffered from a stiff neck, nausea, confusion with difficulty concentrating, minor seizures and even high sensitivity to light (Hallahan and Kauffman et al., 2012). After being admitted into the hospital it was just as the family doctor had suspected. Gregorys ear infection had progressed to bacterial meningitis. After a week on antibiotics and close monitoring, Gregory was given his last checkup before being sent home. Since Gregory was admitted a couple days after the bacterial meningitis had already affected him there was damage to some of his nerve ending in the cochlea. After complaints of tinnitus and feeling off balanced, the audiologist was called to his room to run a few tests. The results returned stating that the bacterial meningitis had affected Gregorys hearing, and he now had a mild hearing loss in his right ear. Decisions Made Since Gregory had an adventitious hearing loss, happening postlingually, he would not be dramatically affected in language development. Because Pam is a single mom, she was able to find agencies for financial support to have Greg fitted for a unilateral hearing aid. Gregory returned to his mainstreamed classroom as normal but required some accommodations for his new hearing aid. His teacher, Mrs. Reynolds adapted quickly and was very supportive of his new hearing aid. In honor of his return, she changed her entire classroom to a baseball theme with the class being tiled the Home Team. To begin, Gregorys desk was placed in front of the room and was referred to this placement as home plate. Mrs. Reynolds began wearing a personal FM system where a boot was attached to his hearing aid. Carpet designed to look like a baseball field covered the classroom in order to absorb extra sound distractions. Buddy systems were created to help take notes and to help answer questions that Gregory had. Mrs. Reynolds referred to this as a triple play where questions, misunderstanding, and notes were all tackled at once by the home team. Gregory felt so welcomed that he soon forgot that he had a hearing loss. RationalGregory suffered from bacterial meningitis which can be caused from an untreated ear infection. Since Gregory was already 8 years old and had a normal language development time period before his loss, he was able to return to his normal activities with amplification. Scenario Three Morgan LouisMorgan Louis was born on December 8th 2009 into a capital D Deaf household. Mr. and Mrs. Louis were Deaf along with their first born child Luke. When a child is born deaf there is a series of decisions the family makes in order to retain the culture in which the child was born into. Morgans first language was American Sign Language. This was her means of communication among her household and within her local Deaf community. Many American's falsely assume that speech is the center of language, and our primary means of communication. However American Sign Language is the visual-gestural language that is currently used by more than 2 million deaf American's around the world. Mothers who are deaf model signs during face-to- face interactions with their deaf infant (Owens, 2008). They also mold the hands of their babies to form shapes of signs. They exaggerate their facial expressions and provide their models in the direct line of vision of their deaf babies. Children who are deaf born to deaf parents are normally aware of his/her environment, enjoys human interaction, smiles, and enjoys hand play from birth to 3 months of age (Owens, 2008). At 5 months Morgan started to fingerbabble. This refers to gestures of deaf children who do not have real meaning any more than babble sounds have meaning. However, Morgans babble was more systematic and deliberate than random finger flutters. By her first birthday, Morgan was able to sign up to fifteen words and communicate strongly with her older brother. Decisions Made/RationalThe Louis family was part of the capital D Deaf community in northern Louisiana. They wanted their children to be raised with American Sign Language as their primary language yet still be familiar with the English dynamics. Following the footsteps of her older brother, Morgan went to a residential day school not far from home. Her parents chose the Bilingual/ Bicultural approach. This method supports the use of ASL for all instruction with strong commitment to written English literacy. Morgan was actively taught to understand and accept the difference between the hearing and Deaf communities. My Scenario Opinion of AuthorBefore I turn thirty, I would like to become a first time mother. I pray my child will be born in great health with all ten toes and preferably green eyes like her grandfather. However, if my child was born with a hearing loss these are the decisions I would make in regards to my personal situation. Although I am learning ASL, I am not fluent nor is anyone else is my family. As far back as I can trace on my side and on my future husbands side there is not a single member born with a hearing loss. In regards to their culture, I may have studied it but I have never been a part of the capital D Deaf culture nor have I ever known someone that was part of it. If my child was born deaf, I would want to them to be implanted. All I am familiar with is the hearing culture and I feel like I would be able to raise by child in the only culture that I know. I would chose to have him/her implanted as soon as possible in order to not miss important developmental stages in her life. In support of this prelingual hearing loss, and after implantation I would chose for her to obtain AV therapy until she is comfortable enough to be mainstreamed. Before my undergraduate and graduate course work, I always looked at a hearing loss and a partial loss in life. I never knew about the capital D Deaf culture or the structure of American Sign Language. I used to label hearing loss as a disability. Now that I have become familiarized with the Deaf culture, have become partially fluent in ASL and have learned about all of the different educational approaches I now label hearing loss as a strength. I am truly amazed at the development of children who become fluent in ASL and who bypass their hearing loss by learning to communicate in ways other than their hands. Not only is it beautiful, but they should be give credit beyond means for having such a brain overload with learning how to communicate without relying solely on their eyes and succeeding.

I am God's creation, my parents' decoration, the youth of the nation, Empowered by my friends and family motivation... And I'm proud of being me.-Author Unknown

Work Cited

Hallahan, D., Kauffman, J. and Pullen, P. (2012). Exceptional learners. Boston: Pearson Education.\Owens, R. (2008). Language development. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.Schirmer, B. (2001). Psychological, social, and educational dimensions of deafness. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.