How to check the hearing of a child 3 months. Hearing in a newborn baby and older - check, useful information

Checking the child's hearing status has been mentioned many times in topics about speech. As a matter of fact, if the child does not babble, or the baby babbles rarely and monotonously, the question immediately arises about the state of hearing. How can you tell if a child is hearing?
The easiest way is to observe the behavior of the child. A newborn baby distinguishes only loud high-pitched sounds and practically does not react to low and quiet ones. By 4-6 months, the child has the ability to localize sounds. A well-hearing baby from six months has the ability to respond to sounds with a smile, coo and babble. There is a clear turn of the head towards the sound source. From 9 months, the child can repeat some sounds, most often non-verbal (like dad coughs, like mom sneezes, like a hedgehog sniffs). After this age, babies begin to understand the meaning of simple words and begin to speak simple babble words.
We present more detailed description child's behavior, to help you determine how your baby's hearing is developing:
0- 6 weeks
In a dream, the answer to loud sounds opens eyes, blinks, startles in sleep or wakes up, may cry
When you talk to baby, stops sucking or crying
6 weeks - 4 months
Stops crying when you talk
Stops sucking when you talk
Reacts to your voice - hums and smiles
Freezes when a new sound is heard
Begins to turn head in a horizontal position to sound and voice (4 months)
4-7 months
Turns head towards sound, listens, smiles
Turns head to your voice
Recognizes and responds to your voice: starts to hum
Smiles when spoken to
7-9 months
loves music
Turns head in search of a sound source, even a very quiet one
Turns when his name is called
Babbling a lot of different sounds
expresses different sounds different needs
The child begins to understand simple words, such as "mom" and "bye".
Responds to medium volume sounds
9-12/13 months
Points out at the request of familiar people or objects, or turns and looks at them
Understands the words "no" and "can't"
Babbling words appear
Turns around when called from behind
Turns head towards the one who is talking
Tries to imitate sounds
12-18 months
Uses a few babble words
Turns to familiar objects or people when called by name, may point with finger
Understands simple requests, such as "Throw the ball."
Begins to make appropriate movements when he hears a familiar rhyme or song (palmies, bear clumsy)
Waving goodbye in response to your "goodbye", even if you do not accompany your words with an appropriate gesture.
Turns head to quiet sounds
2 years
Speaks at least 10 words
Fulfills your requests without trying to look you in the face (if the child is carefully looking at your face, he may be reading lips)
The child likes it when a children's book is read aloud to him, he can point his finger at the pictures in the book and call in a way that is accessible to him (aw-aw, bang)
If you think your child is not demonstrating most of these skills, you can test your hearing in the following ways:

Hearing test with sounding toys: first with a hurdy-gurdy, then with a pipe and a drum.
You can do it like this:
The child sits on your lap facing you. The second adult plays successively to the right and to the left outside the child's field of vision on these instruments. Then he calls in a loud whisper, also to the right and left.
The reaction of the child is to turn his head in the appropriate direction.
The distance from the child to the toy is 3-4 meters. In the literature, when describing the survey, a distance of 6 meters is mentioned. This distance is only possible in a completely soundproof room.
If this method of examination has not yielded results (i.e. the child does not respond to any of the stimuli), then show the child to an otolaryngologist who can test his hearing with a sound test.
If necessary, the study must be continued in the audiology center using special equipment.
In the absence of a sound test, you can use the method of "pea samples": jars filled with peas and cereals.
PEA SAMPLES
We need four plastic jars, for example, from under the Kinder Surprise. Three jars are one-third filled: the first - with unshelled peas, the second - with buckwheat, and the third - with semolina. The fourth jar is empty. Put the baby on the changing table or put it in your arms. The tester is positioned in front of the child to see changes in his reactions in response to sound stimuli. He shakes the jars at a distance of 20-30 cm from the right and left ear of the baby. At the same time, in one hand he has a jar of cereals (first with semolina, then with buckwheat and the last with peas), and in the other hand - an empty jar. Hand movements should be symmetrical. When checking the second ear, the jars are swapped. In response to the signal, the baby must somehow react: freeze, or, conversely, begin to actively move, blink, turn the head towards the sound source. The second, empty jar is needed in order to exclude the situation when the child turns around just to look at a new unfamiliar object. If the child clearly reacts to the sound of a jar of semolina and determines the direction of the sound, then buckwheat and peas can no longer be presented. Do not worry if a baby under 4 months old does not react to a jar of semolina: at this age this is normal. Children of this age cannot yet determine the direction of a sound. A child older than 4 months should respond to the sound of all three jars and turn his head or eyes in the direction of the sound source. To the attention of parents: you do not need to repeat such an examination again and again: repeated repetition sound signals, you will achieve only inhibition of reactions to sound, which will complicate further examination.

What can prevent you from getting the right results

Remember, the child may respond to lip movements, air movement (if the examination uses pops or a rubber squeaker with an air jet), surface vibration, and sounding toy movement when you shake it.

Parents often complain that the hearing of young children is examined only by examining and identifying reactions to rattles. Meanwhile, there are objective methods to test the hearing of a young child:
1.Easiest but not exact method with the help of the ZRT-1 sound-reactor - it is used from 4-6 months.
2.Different types of acoustic impedancemetry. An objective technique that allows you to identify hearing loss caused by pathology of the middle ear.
3.method of registration of delayed evoked otoacoustic emission. (ZVOAE). Can be done from the first days of life. A simple objective method that does not require a soundproof room.
4. Registration of short-latency auditory evoked potentials - used from the first days of life. An objective, fairly accurate method.

__________________

Formed auditory perception is the key to the full development of the baby. Young parents should know how to test their child's hearing in different periods and what are the signs of its violation. Remember: the sooner problems are found and treatment is started, the better the outcome.

The auditory analyzer appears in the embryo from the auditory vesicle. By 12 weeks of gestation, the fetus has three semicircular canals (organs of balance in the inner ear) and the organ of Corti responsible for the perception of sounds. At 20 weeks auditory nerve lined with myelin cells that serve as insulation nerve impulses. In the third trimester, the brain centers of hearing begin to mature, which actively develop after birth. The formation process ends at the beginning adolescence.

It is known that a sixteen-week-old fetus is able to recognize sound signals. However, this does not mean that the baby distinguishes sounds. For him, all noise is a single stream of different volume and tone. The development of hearing goes through several stages, the knowledge of which will help you understand how to test your child's hearing.

By the third week after birth, the baby focuses on the noise, listens. Parents notice that the baby, having heard a loud sound, stopped moving for 5 to 7 seconds.
At two months, the baby seeks to find the source of the sound by turning his head.
By 4 months, the child distinguishes individual sounds from the noise stream - a melody, the voice of mom or dad, the ringing of a toy - and turns his head to the source. Up to 5 months, the baby begins to respond to his name active movement arms and legs, a smile, a coo.
At five months, the baby distinguishes the voices of loved ones from the voices of unfamiliar people.
From the age of six months, he begins to copy what he hears. Actively fiddling with ringing toys and other objects, extracting sounds from them.
By 9 months repeats heard sounds, syllables and fulfills simple requests.
By the age of one year, the child pronounces simple words.

As we can see, the development auditory perception accompanied by certain reactions, in the absence of which it is necessary to take the baby to an otolaryngologist (ENT).

Examination

The baby's hearing is checked at the maternity hospital, during a planned visit to the therapist or at the request of the parents, if they notice anxiety symptoms. Violation of auditory perception can be in the form of weakening (hard of hearing) and complete loss (deafness). Checking phonemic and musical hearing occurs after a year and has its own characteristics.

in the maternity hospital

Hearing in most children is checked in the maternity hospital, on the first day after birth, in two ways:

otoacoustic emission (OAE). A probe with a microphone and a speaker is inserted into the child's ear, through which a sound signal is emitted. Record the reaction of the snail (parts inner ear) to sounds. The examination takes 5-8 minutes;
study of the auditory potentials of the trunk spinal cord(KSVP, SSVP, ABR, BAER). 4-5 electrodes are attached to the child's head, headphones are put on the ears, through which sounds of different volumes are transmitted. Using a special apparatus to determine the electrical activity nerve fibers. The test lasts 5 - 15 minutes.

At the end of the diagnosis, the doctor gives one of two conclusions.

Passed. Most likely, the child does not have an auditory perception disorder. Remember that children with mild hearing loss may be tested. In addition, the disorder may develop gradually. Take the baby for a re-examination after 2-3 months.
I failed . In this case, a second study is prescribed after 7 days: there is a possibility that amniotic fluid V ear canal blocks the sound, or the baby was naughty during testing. If hearing loss is suspected, complete diagnostics ABR with different sounds, lasting 40 - 50 minutes.

Methods for checking hearing in a newborn are not able to detect a violation with 100% probability.

In infants and children older than one year

If the result of the test (OAE or ABR) is negative or the parents suspect a hearing loss in the baby, you should contact an otolaryngologist. The ENT will check the condition of the outer and middle ear. Then an audiologist, a doctor who specializes in hearing loss, will connect.

Interview parents and baby (if possible) about the symptoms of the disorder.
Examine the ears.
Perform hardware diagnostics:

UAE and ABR;
tympanometry. In the ear, the air pressure is changed, fixing the elasticity eardrum;
audiometry with visual reinforcement. Suitable for children from six months to two years. A video image is in front of the child's eyes, the sound is transmitted through headphones. The doctor observes the reaction of the baby;
speech intelligibility test. The child is older three years are asked to repeat sounds uttered at different volumes;
tone audiometry (for older preschoolers and junior schoolchildren). Headphones are put on the child's head and asked to press a button or raise his hand when he hears sounds.

Based on the data obtained, the audiologist makes a diagnosis: healthy, there is hearing loss or deafness.

For children under 5 - 6 years of age, audiometry is not performed, as for adults. It is replaced by a complex of objective methods (described above).

Symptoms of the disorder

Children at risk are:

having genetic disorders(there are close relatives with disorders of auditory perception);
born after abnormal pregnancy(mother moved infectious diseases, used alcohol, drugs, smoked);
premature or underweight. Please note that for premature babies designed separate norms development, because they lag behind in development, including hearing. The doctor will help determine individual parameters;
injured during childbirth long labor, forceps, etc.);
who have suffered injuries or infectious diseases after birth (loud noise, measles, meningitis, parotitis, inflammation of the ears).

The symptoms of the disorder are:

up to 3 - 4 months, the baby does not respond to loud sounds by fading or shuddering, wide opening of the eyes;
by 4 - 5 months there is no cooing and babble, search for the source of sound, reactions to one's name;
by 8 - 12 months the child does not pronounce syllables and simple words;
comes close to the source of the noise to hear;
speaks louder than necessary.

Remember that hearing loss in children can occur before or after birth. Closely monitor the development of the baby, especially those at risk.

Phonemic

Phonemic hearing is the ability to perceive human speech and distinguish it from other sounds. The ability develops gradually by the age of two. Until the age of 5, the child makes mistakes in conversation, but after that the speech becomes “clean”, the sounds are pronounced correctly. Take the baby to a speech therapist if there are gross violations by 4 - 4.5 years:

errors in the pronunciation of the phonemes l and p (for example, says "needle" instead of "game");
replaces or mixes sounds (t - k, d - g and more);
skips vowels / consonants, rearranges, pronounces extra letters, softens consonants (“sit down” instead of “garden”);
replaces similar phonemes (s - s, w - g, k - d).

Phonemic hearing is impaired due to pathological processes in the cerebral cortex. Auditory perception is distorted. The child reproduces the sounds as he hears them. Therefore, there are errors in sound pronunciation.

Musical

Musical ear implies the ability of a person to perceive, distinguish, remember and reproduce the heard melody. 95% of people have this skill to one degree or another, which increases during training (music classes). The teacher checks auditory perception according to three criteria:

sense of rhythm . The teacher taps the rhythm (using well-known children's songs or arbitrary rhythmic patterns). The child repeats. Gradually, the scheme becomes more complicated;
intonation. The melody is hummed, which the baby reproduces. However, the "purity" of the voice is not related to the development of musical ear;
musical memory. The child turns away from the piano. The teacher presses a key. The kid listens to the sound and remembers it. Then he turns to the instrument and presses the keys in search of the same sound.

Auditory perception begins to form in the womb and improves until adolescence. Hearing tests in children are carried out in the maternity hospital or at a scheduled appointment with a therapist in without fail. If parents notice a hearing loss in a child, it is necessary to take him to an ENT or audiologist.

With the advent of a child in the family, it is important to monitor his health, in particular, the state of the hearing organ. Viral diseases And various infections may lead to serious consequences. The most common complications are speech impairment, hearing loss, inability to socialize in the outside world.

The sooner parents notice problems with the health of the ears, the sooner the cause of the inflammation can be determined and eliminated. possible complications. To do this, it is necessary to conduct a hearing test in children in the very early age.

It is known that even the slightest deterioration in the sharpness of sounds can lead to serious violations in the development of the baby. Violations in the structure of the organ of hearing may be temporary. In this case, parents do not need to worry.

However, in advanced conditions, children require serious help up to surgical interventions.

The consequences can be irreversible, up to complete deafness.

There are situations when violations are formed at a later time.

At the age of two or three years, the baby already knows how to talk, but with disorders in the ears, he can lose his speech. In such a case, it is necessary specialized care doctors and teachers to maintain the possibility of communication.

That is why it is important to monitor the development of the child and observe how well the child hears and, with the slightest deviation, turn to specialists.

Hearing loss is known to be due to hereditary pathology, and also due to the following diseases:

Piggy.
Measles.
Scarlet fever.
Flu or cold.
After long-term use antibiotics.

A child's initial hearing test can be done at home. However, a complete hearing test should be implemented in the first months of a child's life. Usually it takes place in the clinic by an otolaryngologist.

Causes of Hearing Loss

Hearing loss in children can be divided into three types:

conductive form.
Sensorineural.
Conductive and neurosensory in one form.

They can be both pathological and acquired. They can be localized simultaneously in two ears, but most often they occur in only one.

The first form of inflammation occurs due to diseases or injuries of the ear.

This type includes everything, inflammation in the nose or throat, education sulfur plugs and hits foreign object in ear. In most cases, this species easy to heal.

The second form includes damage to the structure of the inner and middle ear. This problem arises due to injuries of the middle ear, in case of prematurity of the child or other prenatal diseases. That is why the sensorineural appearance arises due to hereditary predisposition.

Pay attention to the state of health, if during pregnancy you had the following diseases:

viral inflammations like flu, colds or rubella;
diseases of meningitis and parotitis;
long-term use of antibiotics.

Unfortunately, with this type of hearing loss, the period of rehabilitation and cure is quite long, but in the maximum number case not productive.

Restoring hearing in this condition is almost impossible.

In this case, the children are assigned

In the case of the latter form, inflammation occurs by a combination of pathologies and sound perception. ear canal. In this case, they are written as drug treatment and specialized sound amplifiers.

Causes of problems

Pay attention to the health of the ears if a child under 12 months old does not flinch or startle loud noises. besides that there are the following signs:

The baby does not respond to the voice.
Does not turn on the voice of the parents.
Does not respond to loud sounds during sleep.
Does not turn head if sound is coming from behind.
Ignores toys with sound.
By Approach 12 monthly date birth does not understand the meaning of simple words.
The child does not develop new sounds.

At the age of one to three years, the signs change:

at the age of one or two years, the baby does not have coherent speech;
a noticeable violation in the formation of sound rotations;
the baby ignores speech or often asks again;
If talking man is in another room, the baby does not understand words;
if the child pays attention to facial expressions more than words.

Hearing test at home

There are several methods to determine the acuity of hearing at home. To do this, you will need toys capable of publishing loud sounds: rattles, pipes or harmonicas. Stand at a distance of six meters from the child and make sounds with toys. In the first seconds the baby should freeze, and then turn his head or eyes towards the sound source.

To consolidate the effect, make sounds not only in the area of visibility of the baby, but also behind his pockmark.

Exists one more method entitled "pea test". To implement it, you need three empty dark bottles.

In two of them it is necessary to fill in peas or buckwheat, and leave one in the usual position.

Next, one parent takes a jar of cereal in one palm, and an empty one in the other. Sit in front of the baby at a short distance. Then begin to slowly shake the jars at a distance of about thirty centimeters from the ears.

After a minute, swap the jars and repeat the operation. The second parent at the same time carefully observes the reaction of the baby. The child, in turn, must turn his head towards the sound stimulus. By the reaction of the baby, it is easy to understand whether he hears or not.

It is important to know that this method of checking the organ of hearing is only possible from four months.

In babies whose age has reached the age of three, it is possible to analyze hearing ordinary speech. Stand at a distance of six meters from the child. At the same time, the baby should not look at the person, so put him sideways, while covering one ear.

Start by whispering the words first. If the child cannot make out the words, come closer.

To check the audibility of high-frequency sounds, stand at a distance from fifteen meters. Words should be spoken clearly and loudly. The child must clearly repeat.

The spoken words should be understandable to the child.

You should know that the smaller the distance between you and the child, but the words are incomprehensible and the child cannot repeat them, the greater the degree of hearing loss in the baby. In such a case, please contact qualified specialist urgently.

Hearing test for children

At the slightest inflammation ears and painful sensations the baby needs to see a pediatrician. After the examination, the attending physician will refer, depending on the case, to an otolaryngologist or audiologist.

It is possible to test the hearing of a child on the device in several directions.

In case of acute or partial hearing loss, the following problem definition methods:

For the youngest patients, physiological methods and external examination of the ear.
Inspection due to reflex manifestation. It is based on unconditioned reflexes such as muscle contractions, flinching, eye reactions and facial expressions to loud frequencies.
Inspection for reflexes that appear in response to any action.
Analysis auditory ossicles for recording sound waves.
Methods based on bodily sensations. Subjective Methods considered when the child reaches the age of five.
Oral examination. With this view, words of different frequencies are spoken to the child at different distances.

However the most common type of hearing acuity analysis is. Thanks to it, you can get analyzes in the form of graphs, which clearly indicate the type of disease and its degree.

This examination is carried out using specialized drug – audiometer.

The essence of the survey is that the child different frequencies sound intensity, signals its perception by means of a button on the audiometer.

Audiometry can be electronic and speech. However, in the second case, one can only testify to the magnitude of the hearing loss.

Conclusion

If you notice the first symptoms of the disease, it is important to start treatment in a timely manner. Since the ability to hear and speak are important factors for socialization in life.

Do not leave ear problems unattended, as even maternal influenza during pregnancy can cause serious complications The child has.

How to determine hearing in a child? The doctor will answer this question. Hearing and the ability to hear great importance in our modern life. Pathological diseases received during the period prenatal development fetus, affect the state of health, as well as the development of systems and organs. Among them, vision and hearing. In this text material, we will dwell on the question of how to test a child's hearing.

How to test a child's hearing

According to static data, during the survey, a malfunction auditory analyzer is diagnosed in about 2% of children, a significant part of which are of an early age. The problem of a violation in the work of the auditory analyzer should not be underestimated, because depending on its development, the development of the baby and adaptation to the conditions are carried out. environment. Children's hearing is an integral part in the development of speech and cognitive abilities. Children with hearing loss begin to talk much later than their peers, they are not so active in learning about the world around them.

However, there is no point in getting upset. Any parent can help own child- purchase and implant a hearing aid. However, before talking about a violation in the work of the auditory analyzer, it makes sense to consider the causes of a malfunction in the hearing.

What are the reasons for the failure of the auditory analyzer? Signs of deafness: how to identify them? In order to identify the disease, the doctor conducts an examination of the child.

In newborns and children under one year old, as a rule, hearing loss is hereditary and congenital disease. In view of this, if among relatives there are those who suffer a similar disease, it makes sense to talk about heredity.

Deafness happens:

hereditary;
congenital;
acquired.

The development of congenital hearing loss occurs for the following reasons:

Unfavorable course of pregnancy. If the course of pregnancy occurred with a number of difficulties, with the presence of severe toxicosis, with the threat of miscarriage and premature birth, in view of these circumstances, a hearing test should be carried out. Drugs, alcohol and antibiotics pernicious influence on the development of the child's hearing abilities.
Childbirth with pathology. All currently existing pathological abnormalities cause a cessation of oxygen supply to the fetus, premature, protracted, or, conversely, rapid delivery, partial detachment of the placenta and so on.

The manifestation of hearing loss occurs in combination with the following diseases:

eye diseases;
kidney disease;
anomalies in the work of the outer ear;
skin lesions;
pathological deviations in the work of the endocrine and nervous systems;
diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

Violations in the work of the auditory analyzer can be determined up to a year. Parents at home are often the first to notice this disease.

The baby has no reaction to sounds, and there are also difficulties in determining the source of the sound at home. As you know, a baby at the age of about six months is able to determine from which place a sound is heard.

In addition, at the age of 3-4 years, the baby does not speak.

If the parents have passed this period, then an audiologist who is able to test the child's hearing should deal with the children.

The doctor checks the hearing of children. If it turns out that the hearing is impaired, the doctor determines the method of treatment. He may recommend implanting a hearing aid in the outer ear. After this procedure, the child plunges into the world a large number sounds. A baby at 3 years old and at 3-4 years old is difficult, such an abundance of sounds causes stressful situation, it is for this reason that an audiologist can provide assistance to children.

It is worth realizing that the sooner hearing loss is detected and rehabilitation begins, the faster adaptation will be carried out and the less consequences the baby will have in the future.

How to test your child's hearing at home

How to test a child's hearing? Before you send your child to the doctor, you should try to test your hearing at home on your own.

You should be aware that hearing is tested differently in a newborn, a 1-year-old baby, as well as a preschooler and a schoolchild.

In schoolchildren and preschoolers, hearing is tested through the use of colloquial and whispered speech. This verification method does not give a 100% guarantee and depends on subjective factors, the quality of the voice of the verifier.

And at home, hearing should be checked, excluding extraneous noise.

To perform a hearing test, stand at a distance of 7 meters. This is done so that the child does not recognize the words on the lips of the speaker.
Since conversational speech is louder than whispered, hearing control begins with a whisper. Parents name the words, the child repeats what was said.
If the child does not perceive the whisper, then the procedure should be repeated using the conversational timbre of the whisper.
We select verbal material, focusing on the age of the child.
When checking a child's hearing, doctors use tables with selected words. Most often, tables V.I. are applicable for these purposes. Voyachek, B.V. Bogdanov, Langbek.
The hearing of each ear of the child should be checked separately. To do this, we ask the child to cover his ear with his finger.

Checking the baby's hearing.

For 1 year of life at home, the pea sampling method is applicable. When a sound is heard, the child turns his head or looks to where the sound comes from.

The reaction to the sound in the child occurs after 5 seconds.

The cereal container changes to loud toys.

Most of the information on the perception of sound is given by the reflexes and reactions of the child: blinking, squinting, opening the eyes, frowning, flinching, freezing, turning the head, and so on.

It will be mainly about Moscow and about public institutions. In private firms, everything can be different and you can go there for some specific examination. In the regions, the actions will be similar, and the examinations will be the same, but most likely you will have to go, at least, to the regional center.

How to test a child's hearing

God forbid that this information is not useful to you, how to check the hearing of a child. Although, on the other hand, there is nothing terrible in hearing loss (only at first glance), people have lived and live with it, and sometimes much happier than we hear.

How doctors test a child's hearing

In all maternity hospitals, almost immediately after birth, UAE is done on both ears. True, at such an early age, this is not enough to say, and many children do not pass the test.
Then, in a planned manner, in the district clinic (in addition to all doctors), the UAE is done again, somewhere in 2-3 months. Here we can already draw some conclusions. Although at this age, the examination is also not indicative, since the ears are still small and can be clogged with sulfur. Therefore, if something is wrong, then it makes sense to conduct further examinations, but you should not be upset in advance. I read that there is still behavioral screening in polyclinics using audio testers, but we did not do it, and as I understand it, it is rarely used now, since the error is too large.
If the UAE test does not pass, then we go to the ENT in the district clinic, which can look at the pathology of the outer ear (is everything okay with the ear canal and eardrum) and writes out a referral to the audiology center or office. In Moscow, this is a sound center on Vernadsky Avenue d9.
We make an appointment with an audiologist. You can’t make an appointment at the Vernadsky Surgical Center by phone, you need to come in person, bring a referral from the clinic, a policy and a birth certificate. As a rule, an appointment with a doctor in 2-3 weeks.
At the first appointment with the audiologist, an external examination takes place ( ear canal, membrane), UAE and impedancemetry are done. After that, it is concluded what type of hearing loss is: conductive or sensorineural (synonymous with neurosensory).
Next, you need to sign up for a computer objective audiometry of the ABR (in another 2-3 weeks), where hearing thresholds will be set at different frequencies and the degree of hearing loss will be set. And, accordingly, it will become clear whether you will manage with hearing aids or you need to think about cochlear implantation.
At this stage, you can still genetic analysis to connexin. This business costs 2500 rubles, it is not done for free. A gene is identified that is inherited, and which can be the cause of hearing loss or deafness. Moreover, parents can be carriers of this gene, but at the same time they themselves do not experience hearing problems. The result of the analysis affects the timing of cochlear implant surgery, as well as further hearing prognosis.

I wrote in detail about each examination (what it is, what they do) here - Methods for the study of hearing.

UAE (500 rubles), impedancemetry (500 rubles), objective audiometry of KSVP (2500 rubles) can be done privately, for example, in the clinic you trust (many recommend Otofon in Moscow and the audiologist Smirnova, as well as Melfon and Shimanskaya). However, state studies are also worth going through, since only after them it will be possible to apply for disability, which will allow you to get free Hearing Aids and do cochlear implantation according to the quota. In addition, duplication of examinations never hurts.

It is important to consider that hearing can change with age, both for the worse and for the better, so audiometry is repeated periodically. This is especially true for premature and low birth weight babies, who nervous system formed later. It is unlikely, of course, that the child will become fully hearing, but the degree of hearing loss can change by one step. However, in normal newborns final diagnosis can be obtained in half a year.

How to test your child's hearing at home

I am skeptical about such checks, since everything is very individual and a lot can be overlooked or misinterpreted. However, this also applies to medical examinations, too. Therefore, it always makes sense to read everything on the Internet, double-check the diagnoses of several doctors and turn on your head. It is really very difficult for a little man to determine everything very accurately. For example, your baby may appear to be responding to a sound, but he just sees you shaking the rattle. If the child does not hear well, then, as a rule, he has a very tenacious look, and he also reacts to the vibration caused by sounds.

The child begins to show a reaction to sounds already from a month - freezes, shudders, may start crying. Eat different ways how to test a child's hearing at home, but it all boils down to the same thing. I'll tell you a couple of things:

Take two jars and pour cereal into one of them, leave the second empty. At the same time, shake them around your ears. Two are needed so that the child reacts precisely to the sound, and not to the movement. First try buckwheat, then rice, then peas. Different grains correspond to different frequencies of sound. See if there is any reaction.
Behind the child, make a loud noise, such as banging pot lids. It is important that he does not see you. If he hears, he should shudder.
You can also try various loud sounds - with your voice, clapping your hands, etc.

I would advise you to listen to your intuition, if you feel that something is not right, go to the hearing aid and be examined. They didn’t want to give us a referral to the audiovisual center, they say everything is fine, he hears from you, but we felt that something was wrong. Remember, earlier hearing aids can be very helpful. good results! The sooner you learn, the more time you will have to make decisions, surveys, and it will be easier to learn.

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Comments are welcome! (already 19)

06/16/2012 at 12:46 | #

Yes, this is a tricky one...

06/16/2012 at 12:53 | #

There is no Vernadsky street in Moscow, there is an avenue =))

06/16/2012 at 13:08 | #

Oh, right, confused 🙂

You always spoke very well and interestingly about yourself and your life. Now there is Yegor. A huge new part of your life. Where are the stories-notes about him? We want a photo. Forgive me if you guys have reasons not to do this, not to write about it - I think everyone will understand.

But I just want to say that I, as your reader, have a huge interest in this topic. I would like to see photos of a growing toddler. Emotions and curiosities. And everything that concerns the behavior of such an unusual baby is also very interesting. What do you have to face? What is unexpected for you? How do you get out of situations? I understand that you have the first-born, and, so to speak, there is nothing to compare with. But still ...

My friend has a son. Deaf. Here, I remember, at 2.5 years old - this is so unusual - if he turns away from his parent, then he can only be caught up and stopped. In principle, an obvious and logical reaction, but when you see it for the first time, it gives rise to a bunch of thoughts.

How do you calm him down if he cries? Are you talking to him? How does he react to emotions?

In general, I think this is very interesting to many. And even more so, in that sincere and open manner, as you usually write!))))

06/16/2012 at 15:41 | #

I have to think, I don’t even know what we could write about now.

There is nothing special to tell. Up to six months, deaf children almost do not differ from ordinary ones, which is why they are not always identified. Therefore, we now have the most ordinary life of young parents ...

Perhaps the only difference is that he does not get off his hands, that he sleeps little, that he cries a lot and loudly. But this is not connected with everything with hearing, but with neuralgia. Every day is similar to the other, and we have not yet begun to deal with it, that is, while I personally cannot single out any features ...

06/16/2012 at 15:43 | #

Thanks for the reply. Boom to wait. And just know that it's interesting for us)))

06/16/2012 at 16:01 | #

You can try to just write a post about what difficulties we are facing, without reference to hearing impairments ... I'm not sure if it will be interesting, but I'll think 🙂 There is one turkey, but it has not yet fully formed.

And yes, as soon as the specifics concerning deaf children are clear, we will immediately write about it.

06/16/2012 at 16:43 | #

Of course write! You wrote about old things - see how many people are interested in this topic. And then there's the little kid!

Let's wait for the post!

06/17/2012 at 20:53 | #

By the way, here is one of the last photos of Yegor, if you're interested 🙂

06/16/2012 at 14:58 | #

I clapped with Aliska, thought… The second Grisha made my task very easy. He was born and immediately, at any sound, not even a mega-loud one, began to turn his head. And a month from quiet music, I even just went crazy 🙂

06/16/2012 at 15:42 | #

We didn’t react at all, and even now, actually, too. Though music, though loud conversations. But the light bulbs, and any light immediately catches his eye and can wake him up 🙂

08/10/2012 at 00:55 | #

Good evening, everyone! This topic is very familiar to me, because our first child was born deaf. Due to our inexperience, we could not immediately determine that Vanya did not hear. We noticed in kindergarten when Vanya went to 2.6 months. Yes, on the street he immediately broke down and ran, did not respond to his name, but played with the children on an equal footing, only his attention was sought by a pat on the shoulder or gestures ... Now Vanya is 6.5 years old. We have been wearing SA since the age of 3. We have done a lot of work. Speaks poorly, but reads, writes, counts and solves examples well. But we have a second child Egor, we are 9 months old and we plan to examine him too. there are suspicions. I'm scared to think about it. He does not always react to loud sounds, does not always react to the name, does not babble and does not pronounce individual syllables. We signed up for an examination, I want me to be mistaken in my suspicions ...

08/10/2012 at 01:03 | #

Svetlana, thank you for your feedback and good luck with the examination! Even if your second child also has disabilities, you already know a lot of things, which means it will be easier than the first time. Well, I think so, at least.

By the way, your Egor is the namesake of our son, and his age is almost the same)))

09/17/2012 at 13:13 | #

My mother recently gave birth to my brother here, so I became interested in this issue, thanks for the recommendations, I'll try, we'll see.))

04/17/2015 at 18:46 | #

08/16/2016 at 09:12 | #

Tell me, is the earliest time it makes sense to check your hearing? In ottofon we were told that earlier three months there is no point. We were not checked at the maternity hospital due to resuscitation

08/27/2016 at 14:03 | #

In principle, yes, in 3 months, probably, it makes sense. Do not delay the main thing, if you have a 4th degree and there are no contraindications, then it is better to do cochlear implantation up to a year.

November 21, 2016 at 21:41 | #

Thank you very much for the detailed article, and most importantly for the names of clinics and doctors!! Tell me, how much does it affect the result of examinations if the child does not sleep during the examination?

November 22, 2016 at 22:20 | #

If you are on computer audiometry, then the child must sleep, otherwise everything will not be exactly and will have to be redone. But if the child is an adult, then this is no longer necessary, but they check it differently there.

This blog is dedicated to topics related to our son Egor: weekdays of a walking deaf boy, cochlear implantation, classes, rehabilitation centers.

Egor's movements

Where to go next: Tosha and Co. (Moscow)

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about the project

We started with a travel blog, but we have special child and dramatically changed our lives. Therefore, there was a need for a separate site dedicated to our deaf, non-walking, but dearly beloved boy 🙂

How can you test your child's hearing?

Normal hearing is very important for the harmonious development of the child. Even its slight decrease leads to serious consequences - speech disorders, poor understanding of others, psychological discomfort, difficulties of socialization. Parents and other family members are the first to pay attention to possible problems with a child's hearing. The earlier they are discovered and the degree of loss is established auditory function, the sooner you can take action - to take medication or surgery start rehabilitation activities.

It is important from birth to carefully monitor how well the baby hears and, at the slightest suspicion of a hearing impairment, immediately consult a doctor.

the more severe the hearing loss is, the sooner action can be taken

Your child's hearing should be tested if:

upon admission to an educational institution;
with a lag in speech development;
after severe and long-term illnesses, otitis, influenza, measles, parotitis, after treatment with antibiotics with ototoxic action;
when referred to the PMPK due to a suspected developmental delay.

Forms and causes of hearing impairment

All hearing impairments, depending on the localization of the process in the auditory analyzer, are divided into three forms: conductive, sensorineural (neurosensory) and mixed. They can be hereditary, congenital or acquired. The process of violations can be unilateral or bilateral.

Conductive forms arise as a result of diseases, injuries, congenital anomalies development of the outer and middle ear - the sound-conducting system. They can cause otitis inflammatory processes in the nasopharynx, sulfur plugs, hit foreign body into the ear canal, mechanical injury to the tympanic membrane. They respond well to treatment, after which, in most cases, hearing is completely restored.
Sensorineural (neurosensory) forms arise as a result of damage to the structures of the inner ear and central departments auditory analyzer - sound-perceiving system. They may be the result birth trauma, asphyxia, prematurity, hemolytic disease newborns, sepsis. This form violations are largely determined by hereditary predisposition. In addition, the cause of their occurrence may be:

viral infections of the mother during pregnancy - rubella, measles, influenza;
childhood infectious diseases - measles, scarlet fever, influenza, toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, meningitis, mumps;
the use of ototoxic antibiotics and drugs;

With sensorineural hearing loss and deafness, restoration or improvement of hearing is almost impossible. These children require hearing aids, special remedial classes on the development of auditory perception. Hearing loss can be compensated with cochlear implantation, but it may not help in every case.

Mixed forms of hearing loss occur as a result of a combination of pathologies of the sound-conducting and sound-receiving systems of the auditory analyzer. In this case, drug treatment will help to partially improve hearing, but without special pedagogical assistance and the use of sound-amplifying equipment, it will be ineffective.

What indicates a possible hearing problem in a child

Under the age of 1 year

For 2-3 weeks of life, he does not flinch at loud sounds, does not freeze at the voice;
At 1-3 months, the baby does not perk up at the mother's voice and does not turn to the sound of a voice behind;
During sleep, there is no reaction to sharp loud sounds;
At the age of 4 months, the child does not turn his head towards the voice, the sounding toy;
At 4-6 months, the cooing gradually fades, without turning into babbling;
At 9-10 months, the baby reacts incorrectly to simple instructions, does not understand the meaning of many simple words;
From 8-10 months he does not have new sounds, stable sound combinations, simple words.

Over 1 year of age

Up to 3 years there is no phrasal speech or the process of its formation is significantly disturbed;
The child does not understand well the addressed speech, constantly asks again;
Does not answer questions or respond to words if the speaker is out of sight;
When talking, he carefully looks at the face and lips of the speaker, monitors facial expressions;
When watching TV or listening to music constantly turns up the volume;
Poorly distinguishes speech on the phone, often shifts the receiver from one ear to the other.

Ways to test your hearing at home

At the age of 1-3 years

With the help of an approximate reaction to sounding toys: a rattle, a drum, a pipe, an accordion. The reaction can manifest itself in the form of fading, activation of movements, turning the head or eyes towards the sound source. The sound is given by one adult behind the back of the child, with different parties out of sight, at different distances. Another adult carefully observes the behavior of the baby.

In addition, you can conduct the so-called “pea test”: pour 1/3 of the volume of peas, buckwheat and semolina into 3 small identical jars of Kinder surprises, film or medicine, leave one of the same jar empty. adult takes in right hand a jar of cereal, and in the left - empty, sits down in front of the child's face and begins to shake them symmetrically at a distance of cm near the ears. Then the jars change places, and the adult observes whether the child looks at the sounding one. Containers with other cereals are used in the same way. By the reaction of the child, it is easy to determine whether he hears sounds or not. But babies up to 4 months do not react to the sound from the decoy.

In children older than 3 years

In children who have already learned to speak well, you can check the state of hearing at home by speech. Words are pronounced in an adult whisper from a distance of 6 meters. The child first stands with his right side to the speaker, left ear while covered with cotton. If he does not hear the words, the distance is gradually reduced. After that, the child is turned with the left side to the speaker, covering the right ear with a cotton swab. The same procedure is repeated with a voice of conversational volume from a distance of 20 meters. If the child cannot repeat the words correctly, the distance is gradually reduced. You can use the following set of words:

The words used must match age development child. The smaller the distance at which the child hears and correctly repeats all the words spoken by adults, the greater his hearing loss. In this case, you should immediately seek advice and assistance from a medical institution.

Medical examination of auditory function in children

If there is any suspicion of hearing loss, you should first contact the local pediatrician, who, depending on the situation, can refer you for a consultation with a pediatric otolaryngologist or audiologist. An audiologist is engaged in the diagnosis and treatment of hearing disorders, conducts an audiometric study of auditory function on the basis of a children's clinic or an audiology center. To examine children and determine the thresholds for hearing loss, the following types methods:

Objective (physiological) methods - allow you to get the result objectively, regardless of the surrounding circumstances. They are used for the smallest children.
Unconditional reflexes are based on the manifestation of unconditionally orienting reflexes (muscle contractions, eye reactions, respiratory and cardiovascular reflexes, facial reactions) in response to sound stimulation;
Conditioned reflex are based on the manifestation of a reflex in response to any action performed at the same time as the sound is heard;
The analysis of auditory evoked potentials is based on the registration of electrical signals in the sections of the auditory analyzer that occur in response to sound signals of varying intensity.
Subjective (psychoacoustic) methods are based on the assessment of a person's sensations arising from the presentation of sound stimuli. They apply to older children.
Examination using whispering and colloquial speech. A child at a different distance is presented with a list of words with different acoustic characteristics, corresponding to his age development.
Threshold tone audiometry is the most common method for studying hearing, which is carried out using special electroacoustic equipment - an audiometer. It consists in defining different frequencies minimum intensity sound signal which produces the sensation of sound. The received data is displayed in the form of a graph - an audiogram.
Speech audiometry is used to determine the amount of speech hearing loss. Through an audiometer, the subject is given a set of words recorded on a tape recorder, and the doctor notes the number of correctly reproduced.

Please note: all information published on the site is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or recommendations! To get the most complete information about your health, as well as receiving necessary treatment We strongly recommend that you see a doctor in person!

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How to test a child's hearing?

With the advent of a child in the family, it is important to monitor his health, in particular, the state of the hearing organ. Viral diseases and various infections can lead to serious consequences. The most common complications are speech impairment, hearing loss, inability to socialize in the outside world.

The sooner parents notice ear health problems, the sooner the cause of the inflammation can be determined and possible complications can be eliminated. To do this, it is necessary to conduct a hearing test in children at a very early age.

About ear problems

However, with neglected conditions, children need serious help, up to surgical interventions.

The consequences can be irreversible, up to complete deafness.

There are situations when violations are formed at a later time.

At the age of two or three years, the baby already knows how to talk, but with disorders in the ears, he can lose his speech. In this case, specialized assistance from doctors and teachers is needed to maintain the possibility of communication.

That is why it is important to monitor the development of the child and observe how well the child hears and, with the slightest deviation, turn to specialists.

It is known that hearing may decrease due to hereditary pathology, as well as due to the following diseases: