The Concept of Hearing Impairment

CONCEPT OF HEARING IMPAIRMENT

Hearing is the ability of the ear to receive and interpret sound or message. Hearing impairment is therefore the inability of the sense organ (ear) to receive and interpret deprivation that has been noted to hinder the afflicted persons’ development in general and their academic achievement in particular

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Hearing impairment as viewed by Ojile (2006) is a generic term indicating a hearing inability which may range in degree of severity from mild to profound. In line with Ojile’s definition, Okeke (2001) further explained hearing impairment as a generic term used to qualify anyone with hearing loss. It is a degree of hearing loss, which may range from minimal hearing loss to profound deafness. Ojile and Okeke’s definition have similarities with the explanation given by Conference of the Executives of the American School for the Deaf (cited in Obi 2006) which described hearing impairment as a generic term indicating a hearing disability that may range in severity from mild to profound. This also includes subset of deaf and hard of hearing.

The views of these authors have shown that hearing impairment is in degrees with regard to language, there are pre- lingual and post- lingual hearing loss. Pre lingual hearing loss is a hearing loss at birth or before the child has learned language while post lingual hearing loss occurs after the child has developed language. This classification is based on the point of language acquisition. Moreover, Okeke further explained that hearing impairment is a disability that affects the total personality no matter the period of onset. When it affects the total personality it means that it affects the well-being of a person which includes his social, physical, psychological and mental state. Supporting the above view, Ozoji (2005) described children with hearing impairment as those whose sense of hearing are defective and this could range from ability to hear partially to not hearing at all.

In the same line of thought, Mills (1990) explained that hearing impaired persons are those who have partial hearing loss, which means that they may or may not be aware of sounds. The views of Hallahan and Kauffman cited in Obi (2006) provided an insight in differentiating the levels of impairment. These include; 0-27(sound pressure), 27 - 40dB (normal hearing), 41 – 55dB (moderate hearing loss), 56 - 70dB (sever hearing loss), 71 - 90dB (profound hearing loss or anacrusis) in education, slight or mild and moderate hearing loss are referred to as hard of hearing while sever to profound hearing loss are referred to as deaf According to them, a deaf person is one who cannot process linguistic information through audition with or without hearing aids. A hard of hearing can process linguistic information with or without hearing aids, they have residual hearing sufficient to process linguistic information through audition. What this implies is that children who cannot process linguistic information even with hearing aid will definitely find learning difficult especially where oral method of communication is used. Supporting the above view, Olawale (2000) argued that persons with hearing impairment are those who have lost some, but not all of their hearing and who can or cannot benefit from the use of hearing aids in order to understand the use of speech.

In their own contributions, Paul and Quigley (1990) remarked that hearing impairment is any hearing loss ranging from mild to profound. This therefore implies that hearing impairment comprises both those whose sense of hearing even though defective, can process sound or message partially and those who cannot hear at all. Corroborating this, Abang (2005) affirms that children with hearing impairment are those children with slight hearing loss, mild hearing loss, and moderate hearing loss, severe to profound hearing loss. Similarly, Heward (2000) argued that hearing impairment or hearing loss implies a disability category label of individuals who require special education and related services to function and achieve relative achievement in academic and other life endeavours. In another study, Abang (2005) agreed with others that hearing impairment is in a continuum ranging from mild to profound.

Consequently, the extent of hearing loss in an individual learner would to some extent interfere with his or her school performance. Individuals with significant degrees of hearing loss find it too difficult to understand speech as they would depend heavily on their sight to engage in communication for academic and non-academic purposes (Heward, 2000). On the other hand, a person with mild or moderate degrees of hearing loss could with some amplification meaningfully engage in verbal communication. Those who are moderately hearing impaired have better prospect in school learning than the former in school since a great deal of school instruction are done orally than manually (sign language).

Heward therefore observed that hearing loss with its limiting effects does influence an individual behaviour in educational and socio-emotional development. It is also assumed that students with hearing disability experience more ego distorting experience than their hearing peers. This is due to disadvantaged position which their disability has placed them as well as abuses they suffer from the hearing counterparts.

In a related development, Davis and Hardic (1986) pointed out that those children who have mild to moderate hearing losses often portray misarticulating of words and experience difficulties in speaking clearly. They further stated that those with severe to profound hearing loss experience phantom articulation and rhythmic problem which according to them affect intelligibility of these children which in turn affects them academically. Limited ability to hear sound and its impact on language is one of the main characteristics of children with hearing impairment (Ozoji, 2005). According to him, the problem is manifested in two ways; non-response when talked to and difficult in language expression.

Behaviours that are also associated with this characteristics include; asking for repetition of question, cupping of the ear in order to hear better, straining to hear and pitch problem.

In a more vivid explanation, Olawale (2000) identified these as some of the characteristics of children with hearing impairment: lack of response to spoken words, general indifference to sounds, and response to noise as opposed to words as well as monotonic quality of voice.

According to him, the manifestation of these characteristics depends upon the type and degrees of the impairment. For instance, a person who has slight or mild hearing loss will not manifest these characteristics as a person who has severe to profound hearing loss.

Contributing to this, Obi (2006) posited that early identification of hearing loss is very important in order to achieve as normal development as possible. This is because the handicapping effect of hearing impairment could lead to increasing difficulties in attaining developmental milestones. It is imperative therefore, that parents and teachers should be watchful of behaviours that affect communication. He enumerated some of the following as the traits of children with hearing impairment. receiving inadequate feedback when sounds are made, tend to speak in loud voice, tilt to hear or direct the ear towards the speaker, may seem disinterested in oral conversation, more aggressive, ask for repetition of question, make poor pronunciation and vocabulary understand better when watching the speaker, perform below in school and a host of other characteristics.

In a related development, Jartau and Uzo cited in Obi (2005) stated that early symptoms and characteristics of children with hearing impairment need urgent attention from parents and teachers. They noted that some characteristics of children with hearing impairment are paying more attention to movement than sound, low tolerance to noise or change in sound pattern, stamping of foot, yelling at people because they cannot hear their voices, showing no sign of startling situation that would normally disturb others. Okeke (2001) also enumerated the signs with which to identify hearing impaired persons but pointed out that these vary from person to person because the signs are dependent on the type and degree of impairment. Mba cited in Okeke (2001) equally mentioned these characteristics of hearing impaired person; they do not show surprise or become startled in a situation that would normally evoke such response patterns; they also rub their ears frequently or turn the head in one direction as if they are trying to locate sound. Frowning or bending forward in order to hear or understand what is said to him, not responding when called from distance, complaining that a normal sound or noise is two loud, gazing at the lips of a person speaking to him instead of the persons eyes, avoiding situation that may require him/her to listen or talk.

Speech is the most conventional and most used form of communication in any human settlement. According to Ademokoya (1996) this is the greatest of the communication potentials which hearing loss deprive a child with hearing impairment and the greatest asset any one could wish him or her. That is why in many schools for the student with hearing impairment, efforts are usually made to provide a way of assisting the students to improve this communication abilities. The use of hearing aids or sign languages are among the forms of communication mechanism to serve as speech substitute and to permit him to learn as much as possible. Going by what is obtained in the special education programmes, Ademokoya (2008) fears that a child with hearing disability in many developing countries would hardly have a future to cheerfully hope for. This is because his/her educational programmes are grossly deficient to adequately compensate for his deficits and meaningfully equip him to face life challenges in future. Ademokoya, identified lack of proper audiological assessment procedure and necessary therapeutic interventions, inappropriate school placement and instructional practices, failure to comprehensively identify and manage some latent disorders and unfavourable cultural norms as some of the problems characterizing the education of the child with hearing impairment in Nigeria.

Consequently, this education has been described as a rudimentary one. As a result of this, those who graduate from it can only occupy the bottom of their societal socio-economic ladder. He therefore recommended that the educational programme should be reviewed and made more effective by administering it with some frame work provided by the Education for All in 1990 and Special needs Education in 1994 world conferences.

Similarly, Nwazuoke in Ademokoya (2008) had earlier noted that it is very disturbing to imagine the failure of special education practices in Nigeria to develop the potential ability of individual with hearing impairment. The quality of the educational program has evidently failed to offer any significant contributions to their communities and the nation. This he attributed to lack of necessary supportive services, negative attitude, weak education policy and poor funding. In a related development, Alkali (1991) had located the problem at the improper assessment and placement of children with hearing impairment in schools. These problems culminate in the lack of appropriately differentiating curriculum and instructions for the varying categories of school children with hearing disability. Other issues impeding the programmes for hearing impaired students according to him are inappropriate professional programmes required for providing sound education and rehabilitation services for the school children with hearing disability and a poor organizational and administrative procedure for facilitating an efficient running of special education programmes for the children.

The consequence of these problems associated with education of children with hearing impairment is low performance of the students academically. For instance, according to Powers (2003), deaf students in general are underachieving. This was known from research evidence from the United States particularly from Gallaudet Research Institute, which has been regularly gathering data for the last 30 years. Also Allen, 1996 and Traxler cited in Powers (2003) stated that deaf learners lag several years behind hearing learners in mathematics achievement and in reading achievement although the mathematics difference is not so great.

In a study carried out by Karcher (1978) students with hearing impairment whose parents are also hearing impaired have been shown to perform better than their peers who have normal-hearing parents on various measures of academic and social adjustment. Many have attributed this superiority to effects of early manual communication.

However the problem with this interpretation is that the group of children with hearing impaired parent differs from the group with normal hearing parents along many educationally significant dimensions in addition to communication history. Of the issues related to the education and development of hearing impaired children, none has generated more interest than the question of the effect of early manual communication. For some many years, steady streams of studies have compared hearing impaired children of normal parents for a variety of educational and psychological measures. By and large, the results of these studies have been consistent by such measures as IQ, achievement test scores as well as various indices of special adjustment. Children of deaf parents (who are presumed to communicate manually at home) perform better than children of normal hearing parents (most of who probably communicate orally within the family.

Another factor that affects the learning ability children with hearing impairment is psychosocial problems. According to Ezewu (1987), common psychosocial problems among school children with hearing impairment involve activities which school children often manifest regardless of their conditions in the school. However, Ademokoya (1995) noted that children with hearing impairment exhibit their own psychosocial problems in two ways. The first type are problems which all children exhibits (disability not withstanding) Such problems are absenteeism, coming to school late, leaving before the time, dropping out of the school, cheating in the class, sleeping in the class, inability to get along with mates and teachers, fighting in the class and stealing or extortion. The second are problems which result from the child’s hearing impairment and they include; hyperactivity, aggressiveness, indifference, mistrust, low self-concept and low achievement motivation. Consequently the listed problems are usually caused by human/material factors. It is believed that these problems could be reinforced within certain social context such as home, school and community. However, no matter the degree of hearing impairment, adequate care should be given to the child to help him develop maximally. Supporting this assertion, Okeke (2001) cautioned that any child with hearing loss, no matter the degree needs some assistance for maximum function. It is as well very important that pregnant women should be given advice or be educated on how to prevent giving birth to babies with hearing impairment (i.e. congenital hearing loss, care should also be given to little children so that they do not sustain any injury that could lead to hearing loss (i.e. adventitious hearing loss).

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