Would you provide Hearing aids for moderate hearing loss in a 22 month old child?

Answer 1

Absolutely! A child with even a mild hearing loss must have hearing aids in order to develop optimally. Children learn language through hearing and without hearing aids you are making it very difficult for the child to learn to speak and understand. This is such a concern to public health and educators that most countries in the world have implemented infant hearing screening progrmas at considerable cost. The benefits are so big that they justify the cost. By diagnosing hearing loss early and intervening (eg. fitting hearing aids) early you can significantly improve a child's outcomes. What many people also fail to realize is that we also learn a lot of other information from our families and others around us by overhearing how, for example, our parents talk and handle other situations (such as social situations). So hearing loss also impact social and emotional development. I equate sending a child with hearing loss out into the world without hearing aids to sending a normal functioning child out into the world with their hands tied behind their back. They can do it but you are making their lives incredibly difficult. Good luck