Behavioral and

Psychological
Characteristics of
Hearing Impaired
Persons

-Elcaana Davis
 Hearing Impairment
It
 is a partial or total inability to hear.

A
 deaf person has little to no hearing.

May
 occur in one or both ears.

Children
 – affects ability to learn spoken language/mother tongue.

Adults
 – difficulties at work and with social interaction.

Older
 people – loneliness

Hearing
 loss – temporary or permanent.
TYPES
Conductive

Sensory
 neural
Central auditory dysfunction

Mixed hearing loss


CAUSES
•Genetics
•Aging
•Exposure to noise
•Infections
•Birth complications
•Trauma to ear
•Certain medications or toxins
PREVENTION

•Immunization

•Proper care around pregnancy

•Avoiding loud noises
•Avoiding certain medications

TREATMENT

oHearing aids
oCochlear implants
Supporting factors
oSign language
oSubtitles
Psychological characteristics
Feelings
 of anger(in deaf children)
Low confidence , especially in social settings

Frustration

Difficulty concentrating , such as when communicating

Embarrassment

Short-tempered and less tolerant towards others

Mistrust towards others

Less interaction with others

Hard to change his/her behavior

Loss/loss of interest on their ambition

Moody and irritable

Staying away from community

Deep and anxious consideration of ones emotion and motives

Depression

Aggression

Loss of confidence in others and self

Psychological instability

Behavioral characteristics
Conversation may become less fluid
Interaction is noisy places can become problematic
Lack of attention
Turns or cocks head
Uses gestures
Lack of speech development
Works best in small groups
Acts out
Monotone quality in voice
Difficulty in following directions
Preoccupied with things, not people
Imitates others
Responds to noises and pre-lingual impaired people in sounds instead of words
Reluctant and less participation in things
Keeping TV's or radios in inappropriate volume
Echopraxia

Feeling dizzy
Pediatric vs. adult hearing
impairment
For children
•Causes delays in speech and language
•Results in numerous social and emotional problems
•Poor academic performance

Possible signs
•Failure to startle or respond to loud noises
•Delays in speech and language/limited vocabulary
•Frequent ear infections
•Disorders associated with hearing loss, such as down syndrome or
autism
•Family history of hearing loss

Adults diagnosed with hearing loss usually have pretty

straightforward treatment options. Most will benefit from hearing
aids, or cochlear implants for those whose impairment is severe
to profound. But for children there are various other scopes of
treatment according to how soon the impairment is diagnosed.
 Many of us take our hearing for granted, it is an invisible impairment.

“Blindness separates us from things but deafness

separates us from people.”
- Helen Keller