hearing loss

[Itoero]

Are there therapies being developed to treat hearing loss?

My nephew is 4 years and is deaf in one ear and he hears about 75 % in his other ear. He also has had several ear infections.

[StringJunky]

If he has nerve-based deafness, cochlear to brain, there is as yet no on-stream surgical solution. Connecting individual nerves is still some way off.  If it's the hearing bones, that can sometimes be fixed. Assuming he's getting the necessary medical attention, I would be paying particular attention to his communication and reading skills... help him find the best way that suits him to learn things and interact. Reading is very important because it may be  his  richest and most easily accessible  resource for learning things throughout his life. Encourage him and get him comfortable with it; patient persistence. The internet is a godsend for deaf people, so teach him to use it to his best advantage.

Edited December 29, 2018 by StringJunky

[Itoero]

On ‎29‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 6:25 AM, StringJunky said:

If he has nerve-based deafness, cochlear to brain, there is as yet no on-stream surgical solution. Connecting individual nerves is still some way off.  If it's the hearing bones, that can sometimes be fixed. Assuming he's getting the necessary medical attention, I would be paying particular attention to his communication and reading skills... help him find the best way that suits him to learn things and interact. Reading is very important because it may be  his  richest and most easily accessible  resource for learning things throughout his life. Encourage him and get him comfortable with it; patient persistence. The internet is a godsend for deaf people, so teach him to use it to his best advantage.

Thx a lot for that reply! He sees a speech therapist/physiotherapist and they often go to a university hospital...especially the one in Antwerp seems to be very able to treat hearing impairment.

He's been educated in Spanish and Dutch. A good thing, he's very studious so they often read with him.

What I just read : There are currently no FDA-approved treatments for hearing loss that use stem cells, but researchers are conducting clinical trials to test whether stem cell-based therapies for hearing loss are safe and effective in humans. The website ClinicalTrials.gov has the most up-to-date information about the status of these trials; click here for their list of clinical trials which are currently recruiting volunteers. Please direct inquiries about specific clinical trials to the contacts listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, as the HSCI is not enrolling any volunteers in clinical trials. https://hsci.harvard.edu/faq/hearing

[StringJunky]

27 minutes ago, Itoero said:

Thx a lot for that reply! He sees a speech therapist/physiotherapist and they often go to a university hospital...especially the one in Antwerp seems to be very able to treat hearing impairment.

He's been educated in Spanish and Dutch. A good thing, he's very studious so they often read with him.

What I just read : There are currently no FDA-approved treatments for hearing loss that use stem cells, but researchers are conducting clinical trials to test whether stem cell-based therapies for hearing loss are safe and effective in humans. The website ClinicalTrials.gov has the most up-to-date information about the status of these trials; click here for their list of clinical trials which are currently recruiting volunteers. Please direct inquiries about specific clinical trials to the contacts listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, as the HSCI is not enrolling any volunteers in clinical trials. https://hsci.harvard.edu/faq/hearing

If you can, find him somebody who is proficient in lip-reading, which will fill in any gaps in what he can't hear. A teacher with that skill would be great. I had one. Given that he seems to have some hearing, like myself, i think he will find it a very useful tool when it gets a bit noisy and he'll pick up subtle cues about vocal inflection and how others are feeling through being able to read their faces. It will give him a better sense of empathy for people. Tonal inflection through hearing is beyond what a hearing-impaired person can pick up. Also notice that he will tire much more easily in a social situation because 'hearing' what a person is saying from deaf person's perspective requires a lot of conscious effort. It gets easier as one gets older.

Edited December 30, 2018 by StringJunky

[Itoero]

18 hours ago, StringJunky said:

If you can, find him somebody who is proficient in lip-reading, which will fill in any gaps in what he can't hear. A teacher with that skill would be great. I had one. Given that he seems to have some hearing, like myself, i think he will find it a very useful tool when it gets a bit noisy and he'll pick up subtle cues about vocal inflection and how others are feeling through being able to read their faces. It will give him a better sense of empathy for people. Tonal inflection through hearing is beyond what a hearing-impaired person can pick up. Also notice that he will tire much more easily in a social situation because 'hearing' what a person is saying from deaf person's perspective requires a lot of conscious effort. It gets easier as one gets older.

Thx for another great reply! I don't think doctors have mentioned it but the lip-reading is very good advice. They have indeed noticed he tires faster.

Also it seems that his empathy and energy improved the last year and a half, it's like he interacts more and with pleasure with people….maybe it's related to 'growing older'.

[StringJunky]

33 minutes ago, Itoero said:

Thx for another great reply! I don't think doctors have mentioned it but the lip-reading is very good advice. They have indeed noticed he tires faster.

Also it seems that his empathy and energy improved the last year and a half, it's like he interacts more and with pleasure with people….maybe it's related to 'growing older'.

No problem. If he was profoundly deaf then sign language is probably the way to go but I think him getting proficient in lip-reading would benefit him greatly and as long as he makes a point of saying to people that he needs to see their face when spoken to, he should interact quite smoothly with normal-hearing people as he matures. As he progresses, he should be able to seamlessly integrate the words that he sees in peoples mouths and expressions into sounds in his head, coupled with what he can hear... my brain actually seems to fill in the gaps I can't hear with sound... it's strange, but my brain definitely synthesises sounds and words in the gaps. My life has not been too bad socially in my adult years with respect to my disability and maybe  your nephew can benefit from going in the same sort of direction.

Given that he's four, I'm optimistic for him that medical progress will eventually give him unaided better hearing while he's still a young adult.

Edited December 31, 2018 by StringJunky

[Itoero]

18 hours ago, StringJunky said:

No problem. If he was profoundly deaf then sign language is probably the way to go but I think him getting proficient in lip-reading would benefit him greatly and as long as he makes a point of saying to people that he needs to see their face when spoken to, he should interact quite smoothly with normal-hearing people as he matures. As he progresses, he should be able to seamlessly integrate the words that he sees in peoples mouths and expressions into sounds in his head, coupled with what he can hear... my brain actually seems to fill in the gaps I can't hear with sound... it's strange, but my brain definitely synthesises sounds and words in the gaps. My life has not been too bad socially in my adult years with respect to my disability and maybe  your nephew can benefit from going in the same sort of direction.

Given that he's four, I'm optimistic for him that medical progress will eventually give him unaided better hearing while he's still a young adult.

Thx again for that reply! Your comments are very helpful. I'm also optimistic medical science will come up with something in the not so far future.

He just read a little story for new year and it was nice to hear how clear he can talk and how well he articulates, when he pays attention.

[StringJunky]

1 minute ago, Itoero said:

Thx again for that reply! Your comments are very helpful. I'm also optimistic medical science will come up with something in the not so far future.

He just read a little story for new year and it was nice to hear how clear he can talk and how well he articulates, when he pays attention.

Good, make it the beginning of his journey.