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When Your Baby Has Hearing Loss, “So, Can She Hear?” Is A Tough Question
A common question that parents of deaf babies struggle with.
This is the number one question we get asked!
Most people—us formerly included—think deafness is all or nothing. Or, that hearing aids or cochlear implants are like glasses—boom! fixed!
Turns out, that's not how it works.
Most deaf people can hear something, even without listening devices. And listening devices are not a substitute for natural typical hearing. Like many medical conditions, deafness is a huge spectrum, with tons of variation.
Like many medical conditions, deafness is a huge spectrum, with tons of variation.
Here's a few examples of how deafness and hearing loss might play out (in our laymen's understanding):
- You can only hear loud, low sounds—like dogs barking, lawn mowers, and helicopters.
- You can hear most sounds, but not quiet ones like s-sounds and th-sounds.
- You can register most sounds, but your brain interprets the waves differently. So, you might turn your head at sounds, but what you hear is static-y.
- You can hear clearly in quiet environments, but not with background noise.
- Your hearing fluctuates based on the day, week, or year.
Or some combination of the above.
"Well, what about with her hearing aids or cochlear implants? Now can she hear?"
Listening devices help some babies more than others. And, the complex settings adjust to change the sound. Babies often have their settings adjusted based on more data.
Even if a test shows a baby reacts to a sound, it's hard to know what a baby's actually hearing until they get older. It might be muffled, static-y, or inconsistent. So, parents often have an incomplete picture of what their baby can actually hear.
Even if a test shows a baby reacts to a sound, it's hard to know what a baby's actually hearing until they get older.
That's why parents might struggle to answer the question "Can the baby hear?"
As an alternative, we find it easier to answer more open-ended questions like "How are things with her hearing going?" That allows us to talk more about what we do know!
