What is Moderate Hearing Loss & the Difficulties A Person Faces with Moderate Hearing Loss?
Moderate Hearing Loss is where the hearing threshold of a person is between 41 to 70dB (decibels).
A person with moderate hearing loss will have difficulty in understanding speech, especially if there is any background noise. People suffering from moderate hearing loss need higher levels of volume for hearing radio or TV. A person with moderate hearing loss will miss more than 50% of speech and more than 50% if there is any background noise. So, hearing aids are compulsory for people suffering from moderate hearing loss to hear everything better. Growing children with moderate hearing loss need hearing aids, as without them they can develop very limited vocabulary, have speech problems, such as unclear or faint articulation of speech sounds and will also have very limited communication skills. Children with moderate hearing loss can also develop a flat tone to their voice with little modulation or inflection as they are not able to properly listen to their own voice.
Are Hearing Aids Required In Moderate Hearing Loss?
A person suffering from moderate hearing loss needs to wear hearing aids in order to understand normal speech. A person with moderate hearing loss will have to depend on speech reading cues without the hearing aids. The degree of concentration needed for speech reading in case of moderate hearing loss is very difficult to maintain for prolonged periods of time.
Do People Suffering From Moderate Hearing Loss Benefit From Hearing Aids?
People with moderate hearing loss benefit a lot from hearing aids, as hearing aids amplify all the sounds including the background noise.
How Does Moderate Hearing Loss Affect a Child’s Learning?
Children with moderate hearing loss will suffer from the following problems:
- Children with moderate hearing loss will not be able to hear important elements during discussion in class, such as content or key context without the help of visual cues.
- Children with moderate hearing loss are not able to hear all the sounds in a word and tend to leave off “ing,”‘ “s,” and “ed” in their writing and speech.
- Children with moderate hearing loss will have more limited or smaller vocabulary when compared to their peers.
- Children with moderate hearing loss become very tired towards the end of sessions, which need intense concentration or which were conducted in noisy environment.
- Children with moderate hearing loss have difficulty in pronouncing some speech sounds.
- Children with moderate hearing loss misinterpret what is said, even though they are able to “hear” the speaker. Children with moderate hearing loss are aware that someone has said something; however, they are not able to hear what is said clearly enough to understand.
What is the Treatment for Moderate Hearing Loss?
Hearing aids are necessary to manage the hearing loss and to live a normal life with moderate hearing loss.
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) – Types and Degrees of Hearing Loss: https://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Types-of-Hearing-Loss/
- Hearing Link – Degrees of Hearing Loss: https://www.hearinglink.org/your-hearing/types-of-hearing-loss/
- WebMD – Understanding Hearing Loss — the Basics: https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/understanding-hearing-loss-basics#1
- Healthy Hearing – The 4 degrees of hearing loss: https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/47851-The-four-degrees-of-hearing-loss
Also Read:
- Sudden Hearing Loss: Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention
- What is Adventitious Hearing Loss, Know its Causes, Treatment, Diagnosis
- Can Hearing Loss be Treated Naturally?
- How to Raise a Child with Hearing Loss?
- What is Congenital Hearing Loss & How is it Treated?
- 4 Common Causes of Temporary Hearing Loss & It’s Treatment
