Main Page Navigation
 
 
Shop Online at The Store @ HSDC
Top News Stories
Upcoming Events
Audiology News
Community News
HSDC News
PIP News
Speech News
Home / News / audiology news /
Identifying Hearing Loss in young children
Identification of hearing loss in infants and children requires careful observation, thorough medical examination with an extensive case history, and audiological testing. Listed below are high risk factors, possible signs of hearing loss, and typical age related behaviors. This information should help a parent, physician, and teacher determine whether a child needs further medical and audiological evaluation.

High Risk Factors
Birth to 28 days 29 days to 2 years
  • Malformations of the ear, nose or throat - Parent/caregiver concern regarding hearing.
  • Rubella during pregnancy speech, language, and/or developmental delay
  • Rh incompatibility - Meningitis
  • Family history of hearing loss - Presence of neonatal risk factors
  • Apgar score from 0-3 - Head trauma
  • Severe neonatal infections - Stigmata
  • Meningitis - Ototoxic medications
  • Low birth weight (under 3.3 lbs.) - Neurodegenerative disorders
  • Hiperbilirubinemia - Childhood infectious diseases associated with Ototoxic medications - hearing loss (e.g. mumps, measles) Severe respiratory distress and/or prolonged mechanical ventilation (10 days or more)
  • Stigmata (marked deviation from normal development, especially as a result of congenital or heriditary defects)


Possible Signs of Hearing Loss at Any Age
  • People have to raise their voice consistently to get the child's attention.
  • At any age after talking has begun, the child frequently says "huh" or "what" when somebody is speaking.
  • The child responds inconsistently to sound, sometimes hearing it and other times not.
  • The child has a history of ear infections - often getting earaches or runny ears.
  • At any age the child watches the speaker's face carefully.The child turns his head so that one ear is facing the direction of the sound source.
    • The child complains of hurting ears.
  • The child prefers low pitch or high pitch sounds.
  • The child talks in a soft or loud voice.
  • The child turns the radio or television set up (adolescents and teenagers excepted when listening to rock music).
    • The child does not always come or look when called.
  • The child confuses sounds that are alike.
  • The child's speech is poorer than you would expect of a child of his or her age.
  • A child does not use verbal language.
  • A child frequently asks for things to be repeated.
  • The child often answers a question with an unrelated answer.
  • The child seems in attentive at home or at school.
  • The child likes to watch your face when you talk.

Possible Signs of Hearing Loss at Home or at School
  • Child has a history of hearing loss.
  • The child has a history of ear infections.
  • The child does not pay attention to instructions half or more of the time.
  • The child does not listen carefully-often - often needs instructions repeated.
  • The child has difficulty attending to auditory stimuli for more than a few seconds.
  • The child has a short attention span.
  • The child's attention drifts, daydreams.
  • The child is easily distracted/bothered by background sounds.
  • The child has problems with spelling/phonics.
  • The child has difficulty telling one sound from another.
  • The child forgets what is said in a few minutes.
  • The child does not remember routine things from day to day.
  • The child has problems with what was heard last week, month, year.
  • The child has problems recalling a sequence of instructions.
  • The child has problems following auditory directions.
  • The child frequently misunderstands what was said.
  • The child does not understand many words for age/grade level.
  • The child learns poorly through auditory channels.
  • The child has language problems (sentence structure, vocabulary, word formation).
  • The child has articulation (pronunciation) problems.
  • The child can not always relate what is seen to what is heard.
  • The child lacks motivation to learn.
  • The child takes longer to respond to verbal stimuli.
  • The child has below average performance in one or more academic areas.
    • The child does not always come or look when called.
  • The child confuses words that sound alike.
  • The child may show overactive, aimless behavior.
  • The child may be aggressive or destructive.
  • The child may be easily distracted, lack of ability to screen out stimuli and pay attention to others.
  • The child may be inconsistent in response to sounds.
  • The child may be withdrawn (out of touch with environment).
  • The child may show excessive fears or anxieties.
  • The child's speech is poorer than you would expect from a child of his/her age.

Typical Age Related Behaviors (Normal)
  • From birth to 3 or 4 months, the child should startle, blink eyes, change immediate activity in response to sudden, loud sounds.
  • From birth to 3 or 4 months, the child should stop moving or stop crying when you call him or make an unfamiliar noise.
  • At 3 months, the child should imitate gurgling or cooing sounds and show response to noise making toys.
  • At 3 months, the child should soothe or show responses to the mothers voice.
  • At 3 months, the child should be disturbed by loud sounds when asleep.
  • At 4-5 months, the child should begin to turn eyes and head to the side in search of sounds that come from behind or from the side.
  • At 6-7 months, the child turns his head directly toward the side of a signal, but he cannot find it above or below him.
  • At 7-9 months the child should make some kind or response to his/her own name.
  • At 7-9 months, the child should respond to household sounds such as spoon rattling in a cup, running water, the noise of a washing machine or footsteps from behind.
  • At 9 months, the child should engage in loud shrieking and sustained production of vowels.
  • At 9-12 months, the child should use his/her own voice to get attention.
  • At 12 months, the child should imitate sounds and simple words.
  • At 21-24 months, the child should localize directly to the sounds, at all angles.

If you suspect a hearing problem, do ALL of the following:
  1. Refer the child to his/her pediatrician or family doctor for a complete examination.
  2. Refer the child for an otologic examination by a doctor who specializes in problems of the ear.
  3. Refer the child for an audiological evaluation by a certified audiologist at a speech and hearing center.
NO BABY IS EVER TOO YOUNG TO HAVE A HEARING TEST. The earlier we discover the problem, the earlier we can help!

To make an appointment for your child to have a hearing screening or evaluation, please contact us at: For more information, see the following hsdc.org articles:
Types of Hearing Loss in Children
Suggestions for Regular Classroom Teachers When Dealing with Hearing Loss in Children
About Us
For You For Your Business For Your Community For Your Parent For Your Child For Your Patient Home News About Us Search Donate Our Sponsors Site Map Contact HSDC