Conductive Hearing Impairment

Definition

Conductive Hearing Impairment is when there is when there is problems delivering sound energy to a person’s cochlea, the part in the inner ear. Conductive hearing impairment can be a result of blockage in the ear canal, a hole in the ear drum, problems with three small bones in the ear, or even fluid in the space between the ear drum and the cochlea. This can cause someone to have muffled hearing, loss of hearing, dizziness, or even pain in the ear (ENT health).

*About every 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 students in the United States are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears. (NIH)

Instructional Strategies

In order to ensure that students with conductive hearing impairment get the full educational experience, teachers should:

try seating the student close to where the teacher does the majority of the instruction and away from any obvious sources of noise or distraction.
Ensuring that the instructor is speaking to the student in close range using clear speech and a well projected voice. This will give the student time to process and focus on what the instructor is saying.
Most importantly, the teacher should check with the student to ensure that they understood the instructions of the assignment before leaving the student to do the work by themselves. (Boston Childrens Hospital of Audiology)

Useful Websites

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. U.S Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/quick-statistics-hearing
ENT Health: Conductive Hearing Loss.conductive-hearing-loss
ASHA: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. https://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Conductive-Hearing-Loss/
Boys Town: Classroom Accommodations for Children with Minimal or Mild Hearing Loss. https://www.boystownhospital.org/knowledge-center/classroom-accommodations-children-with-hearing-loss
Conductive Hearing Loss: Causes, Symptoms and Treatments: https://www.hearingdirect.com/us/blog/conductive-hearing-loss-causes-symptoms-and-treatment.html

Research

According to the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), children who have mild to moderate hearing loss but do not get intervention services are very likely to be behind their hearing peers by anywhere from one to four grade levels.And for those with more severe hearing loss, intervention services are even more crucial; those who do not receive intervention usually do not progress beyond the third-grade level.
In addition to the classroom environment, certain subjects are just intrinsically more difficult for a child with hearing loss. While the ability to hear affects all aspects of academic achievement, perhaps the areas most affected are those involving language concepts.
A study, the results of which were released in February 2015, supports this, showing that children with severe-profound hearing loss performed in the average or above average range less frequently than their hearing peers. Those children that had greater parental involvement, earlier intervention and that spent more time reading scored higher on the tests than others.
https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/52433-How-hearing-loss-affects-school-performance