A prospective study of hearing impairment in school going children of Ghaziabad city attending a tertiary care hospital

Background:Overcrowding, poor hygiene, socio-economic status, climate, lack of resources to avail medical facilities, poor medical awareness have their bearing on the incidence of hearing loss. The family of each hearing-impaired child has its own cultural, social, educational, and financial background, and its own special needs. The aim of this study is to determine the percentage of hearing impaired school going children in Ghaziabad city.Methods:The material for the present study were a representative sample constituting 1000 school children selected from various localities of Ghaziabad city within age group of 6-12 years. The children belonged to all the strata of society and children from both sexes were evaluated for hearing loss and its underlying etiological factors. Children were subjected to detailed ENT examination in our OPD.  Results:In the present study sample the incidence of hearing loss is 9.3%. The maximum cases 60.22% belonged to the low socio-economic strata. A statistically significant difference of distribution by gender was noticed with a male preponderance (61.29%) as against 38.71% for females. The hearing loss in majority of cases was of a mild degree i.e., 26 to 45 dB (34.41%) of which majority of cases (87.10%) had conductive loss. Wax was the commonest cause of hearing loss (41.94%). CSOM was found in 21.50 % of all cases. Peak prevalence of hearing loss was found at 8 years of age, again declining after that from 20.43 % to 5.38 % by 12 years of age. Also it was observed that 59.14% children were living in crowded localities of city & 40.86% were living in non- crowded/open locality which is again statistically significant (P ≤0.05).Conclusion:The inferences drawn from the present study substantiates the view point of earlier workers that school screening is the most effective method of diagnosing deafness in school going children and should be extended to all schools in all the areas. Proper assessment and diagnosis of hearing loss in children at a very early age is important because an early diagnosis determines the efficacy of methods used for the correction of the hearing loss. Also early diagnosis of hearing impairment is a key to proper rehabilitation. The cases reporting to the hospital for treatment and rehabilitation can be regarded as the tip of the ice-berg and can have more management difficulties when compared to sub-clinical cases.

A planned program of study and guidance for parents of acoustically handicapped children

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

A European perspective on auditory processing disorder-current knowledge and future research focus

Current notions of \u201chearing impairment,\u201d as reflected in clinical audiological practice, do not acknowledge the needs of individuals who have normal hearing pure tone sensitivity but who experience auditory processing difficulties in everyday life that are indexed by reduced performance in other more sophisticated audiometric tests such as speech audiometry in noise or complex non-speech sound perception. This disorder, defined as \u201cAuditory Processing Disorder\u201d (APD) or \u201cCentral Auditory Processing Disorder\u201d is classified in the current tenth version of the International Classification of diseases as H93.25 and in the forthcoming beta eleventh version. APDs may have detrimental effects on the affected individual, with low esteem, anxiety, and depression, and symptoms may remain into adulthood. These disorders may interfere with learning per se and with communication, social, emotional, and academic-work aspects of life. The objective of the present paper is to define a baseline European APD consensus formulated by experienced clinicians and researchers in this specific field of human auditory science. A secondary aim is to identify issues that future research needs to address in order to further clarify the nature of APD and thus assist in optimumdiagnosis and evidence-based management. This European consensus presents the main symptoms, conditions, and specific medical history elements that should lead to auditory processing evaluation. Consensus on definition of the disorder, optimum diagnostic pathway, and appropriate management are highlighted alongside a perspective on future research focus

Wherefore art thou, inclusion? Analysing the development of inclusive education in New South Wales, Alberta and Finland

Over the last two decades, moves toward “inclusion” have prompted change in the formation of education policies, schooling structures and pedagogical practice. Yet, exclusion through the categorisation and segregation of students with diverse abilities has grown; particularly for students with challenging behaviour. This paper considers what has happened to inclusive education by focusing on three educational jurisdictions known to be experiencing different rates of growth in the identification of special educational needs: New South Wales (Australia), Alberta (Canada) and Finland (Europe). In our analysis, we consider the effects of competing policy forces that appear to thwart the development of inclusive schools in two of our case-study regions

Rehabilitation of hearing impaired children in India – An update

The prevalence of deafness in India is fairly significant. It is the second most common cause of disability. Approximately 63 million people (6.3%) in India suffer from significant auditory loss.1 Rehabilitation of hearing impaired children in India remains a challenging task. Early detection and intervention are the mainstay of this initiative. This article does not purport to detail the clinical aspects and surgical management of hearing handicapped children.We discuss here the resources and options available in India for the education of deaf children and the role of the Government bodies in rehabilitation. Awareness abouteducation and rehabilitation of hearing handicapped is low among the general public and even among the medical fraternity.

Maltese children with a hearing impairment : analysis of the current situation and its impact on the quality of life of parents

Understanding the effect that a diagnosis of a childhood hearing loss has on parents would help professionals adopt an approach which diminishes parents’ possible negative feelings and concerns. A sample of parents of children with hearing impairment was interviewed to document demographic data related to hearing loss in Maltese children. The present study also attempted to analyse the effect of hearing loss on the parents’ wellbeing. Parents of 23 children with a hearing loss and parents of eight children without a hearing loss participated in the study. Structured face-to-face interviews were carried out with both groups of parents. A self-devised questionnaire was used with parents of children with hearing impairment to collect information about several factors related to the hearing loss. This included documentation of the different types, degrees and causes of hearing loss as well as the ages of suspicion, diagnosis and amplification of children with a hearing loss. The World Health Organisation Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire (World Health Organisation [WHO], 1998) was then used with both groups of parents to obtain a quality of life profile in four domains: physical health, psychological health, social relationships and environment. Slight quality of life differences, which were not statistically significant, were noticed between parents of children with a hearing loss and parents of children without a hearing loss. Quality of life scores were marginally higher for parents whose gap between the day of diagnosis and the interview date was more than 24 months, when compared to parents whose gap was 24 months or less. These findings extend the limited data on the effect of hearing loss on parents’ quality of life in the Maltese context. More intensive support may be indicated for parents of children with hearing impairment, particularly in the initial stages following a diagnosis of a hearing loss. Support would help parents better understand and accept their child’s hearing impairment.peer-reviewe

Special educational needs and disability : Understanding local variation in prevalence, service provision and support

There is a growing recognition of the variation between local authorities in the proportions of children with SEN, the apparent composition of these groups, and the nature and quality of services provided to support them. Local area data collected on children with SEN, particularly the termly School Census and the annual SEN2 return by local authorities, show differences in the number of children with SEN, the nature of their recorded conditions and the Code of Practice level of support they are receiving. This variation was highlighted by the House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee which commented on a ‘postcode lottery’ or a ‘lottery of provision’, and reports by the Audit Commission and Ofsted which also highlighted variation in provision and standards

Psychohygienic Aspects Of Training Of Disabled Adolescents With Pathology Of The Vision

The objective of this article is to undertake a literature review to familiarize ourselves with the knowledge base; to summarize information about some psycho-hygienic aspects of teaching and visually impaired adolescents, including features of communication, learning environment, psycho-emotional stress in specialized educational institutions, as well as individual psychological characteristics of personality, emotional and volitional state of visually impaired and general patterns of physiological and psychological characteristics and health of adolescents with vision pathology. To examine the system of security measures in order to optimize the learning environment for the promotion of mental health of the studied contingent and the nature and impact of the learning environment on functional status and health of adolescents with vision pathology. To investigate the impact of current patterns of complex sanitary and regime-organizational factors of training on functional status and health of adolescents with vision pathology. A thorough literature review helps to lay the foundation for a study, and can inspires new research ideas