Welcome Back ASL II!• I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

• Please take out a pen or pencil and a clipboard or your binder for notes.

• You DO need your note card today.

• Please turn your voices off when the bell rings and be ready to work. All phones will be taken up and brought to your house office if you are on it during lecture. I’ll let you know if you need your phone.

Say that again?Hearing Loss, Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants

What do you think of when you hear the word…• deaf?• Deaf?• Hard of Hearing?• Hearing Impaired?

• Up until now we have spent time focused on the CULTURAL view of Deafness.

• Now we will shift and discuss the MEDICAL view of Deafness.

How the Ear Works

• Parts of the Ear

•When something doesn’t function correctly, it results in hearing loss.

Types of Hearing Loss

•Conductive

•Sensorineural

•Mixed

Conductive

• Outer or Middle Ear not working correctly•The “Hardware” or “Mechanical”

• Sound is muffled.• You have some experience with this!•Deaf for a Day•Head cold, infections

Conductive• Causes• Excessive wax• perforation of the eardrum• Middle Ear bones dislocated or missing• foreign object in the ear• malformation from birth of outer or middle ear• Injury• Hereditary (passed down from parents)• Tumor

• Treatment• Viewed as a mechanical problem• Sometimes can be cured with surgery or medication• Can be temporary

Sensorineural• Inner Ear not working correctly• The “Software” or “Electrical”

• Sound is distorted.• Causes• Age related hearing loss• Loud noises• Disease such as Measles, Meningitis, Maternal Rubella• Side effect of medications• Hereditary (passed down from parents)• Injury• Congenital (developed before birth)

• Treatment• Most of the time there is not a medical treatment

Conductive vs. Sensorineural

Mixed

• Both Conductive and Sensorineural hearing loss• Sound is muffled and distorted.• Often will have more than one cause.• Treatment can vary depending on the cause.

Levels of Hearing Loss• Normal• Mild• Moderate• Severe• Profound • Let’s take a break and watch cartoons.

Have you ever wondered…• Why some Deaf/Hard of Hearing people speak

more intelligibly than others?

• Why some Deaf/Hard of Hearing people are natural signers?

• One of the biggest factors is WHEN they lost their hearing.

Pre-Lingual

• Hearing Loss that occurs before learning spoken language

• Usually happens at birth or before age 3• Communication Options• American Sign Language• Signed English• Oral/Spoken Communication

• More difficult to learn and understand spoken language if there is no experience with it

Post-Lingual

• Hearing Loss that occurs after learning spoken language

• Usually happens after age 3• Communication options• Oral/Spoken Communication• Signed English• American Sign Language

• More success adjusting to amplification and spoken language because there is lots of experience with the language

With such a varied ‘background’ Deaf people often ask a new person if they are Deaf, if they were born Deaf, became Deaf later and how, and where they went to school to figure out where they fit in the Deaf community.

What is a Hearing Aid?

• Device that analyzes and amplifies sound• Parts of a hearing aid•Microphone•Amplifier•Receiver•Battery

• Works with:•Conductive loss•Sensorineural loss•History of Hearing Aid

How Hearing Aids Help

• Amplified sounds increase the chance a Deaf/Hard of hearing person will process sound correctly• It is not perfect!

• Individually programmed to each person’s hearing loss• Variety of types for different levels of loss

• Filters out some extra noise and increase speech comprehension

• Even with a hearing aid, listening requires the wearer to be ACTIVE to understand

What is a Cochlear Implant?

• Surgically implanted device that acts as an artificial cochlea

• Parts of the device•microphone, which picks up sound from the environment. • speech processor• transmitter and receiver• electrode array• battery

• Works with:• Sensorineural loss ONLY

How Cochlear Implants Help

• Replaces some of the function of damaged cochlea• Post-lingual adults can benefit immediately • Allows brain to process:•Music•Speech•Environmental sounds

• Gives more support and options to those who don’t want to rely on signed communication only

Cochlear Implant Controversy• Cochlear Implant technology is not a cure or equal

to normal hearing• Example of listening through a CI

• All residual or “remaining” hearing is destroyed by an implant

• Requires surgery which can be risky• Infection• Facial nerve damage• Tinnitus (ringing in ears) or dizziness

• May require second surgery (if it fails or needs an upgrade)

• Pre-lingual Deaf children require years of specialized therapy to understand speech and speak clearly

What’s the Difference?

Hearing Aids Cochlear Implants

Why don’t hearing aids and cochlear implants work like glasses?

• Glasses help your eyes focus properly.•Similar to adjusting a microscope, telescope, or binoculars

• Hearing aids and cochlear implants assist the brain with analyzing and filtering sounds.•Hearing loss is more complicated with different types and levels