Hearing loss is the reduction in the ability to hear sound and can occur suddenly or gradually. Sudden hearing loss is immediately noticeable and requires urgent medical treatment. With gradual hearing loss, it can be harder to notice the reduction in hearing as it happens slowly over time. It may start to become apparent when you have difficulty hearing people in noisy environments or family members comment on the TV being too loud. Often people can still hear others talking, but it isn’t so clear anymore…they just can’t quite understand parts of what is being said. It may feel like a blockage or ringing in the ears.

Children with hearing loss may fail to meet speech and language milestones or have problems with articulation. They may start watching a speaker’s face very carefully or ask people to repeat things a lot. Hearing

loss can also manifest as problems at school. They may start slipping

academically, not respond when spoken to, be disruptive in class because they cannot hear what is going on around them or be thought to have a learning disorder or ADHD.

Hearing loss can be:

If not addressed in children, hearing loss can lead to speech and language delay. It is linked with depression and dementia in adults.