Deafness

deafness is the difficulty or inability to use the sense of hearing due to a partial (hearing loss) or total (cophosis) hearing loss ), and unilateral or bilateral. Thus, a deaf person will be unable or have trouble hearing. This may be an inherited trait or may be the result of disease, trauma, long-term exposure to noise, or aggressive medications on the auditory nerve.

Definition

Hearing loss

Hearing loss occurs when sensitivity to sounds normally felt is decreased. The terms impaired or hard of hearing are generally reserved for people who have relative insensitivity to sounds at speech frequencies. The severity of hearing loss is classified according to the need to extend the volume increase above the normal level before it can be detected by the listener.

Deafness is defined as a degree of impairment that a person is unable to understand speech, even in the presence of amplification. In profound deafness, even the loudest sounds produced by an audiometer (an instrument used to measure hearing hearing by producing pure tones across a range of frequencies) cannot be detected. In total deafness, no sound is perceived at all, regardless of the amplification or production method heard.

In the human case, when subjecting the eardrum to 150 decibels it breaks, leaving the person deaf.

Speech perception

Another aspect of hearing involves the perceived clarity of a sound rather than its amplitude. In humans, this aspect is generally measured by tests of speech perception. These tests measure the ability to understand speech, not just the detection of sound. There are very rare types of disorders that affect hearing and speech comprehension.

Types of deafness

• Partial deafness: It is manifested when the person has a slight hearing capacity (hypoacusia) and can use a hearing device to improve, but they are not forced to do so.
• Total or complete deafness: It manifests when the affected person has no capacity to hear absolutely anything. In this case the cochlear implant may be used, although it will depend on the particularity of each person.

Deafness is also caused by wear and tear on the ears; this explains why adults cannot hear some frequencies that younger people can.

Clinical picture

To verify the degree of deafness of a person, an audiometry test is done, so that a person with deafness may have problems in the correct perception of the intensity (decibels) or the frequency (hertz) of sounds related to spoken language, and it is common for different results to be given for each ear. Hearing loss is generally described as mild, benign, moderate, severe, or profound, depending on the test. Generally, when a person whose hearing loss exceeds 90 dB, then they are considered deaf.

Types

We can consider various criteria when classifying the different types of hearing loss or deafness.

• According to the location of the injury.
• Depending on the degree of hearing loss.
• Depending on the causes.
• Depending on the age of deafness.

Depending on the location of the lesion

Conductive or transmission hearing loss

Caused by disease or obstructions in the outer or middle ear (the conduction pathways through which sound reaches the inner ear), conductive hearing losses typically affect all frequencies of the ear evenly.

Sensory, Sensorineural, or Perceptual Hearing Loss

They are in cases where the hair cells of the inner ear, or the nerves that supply it, are damaged. These hearing losses can range from mild to profound losses. They often affect a person's ability to hear certain frequencies more than others, so that the sound is distorted, even when using an amplifying hearing aid. However, currently, the great technological features of digital hearing aids are capable of amplifying only deficient frequencies, inversely distorting the wave so that the deaf person perceives the sound as similar as possible to a hearing person.

Mixed hearing loss

Refers to those cases in which there are aspects of conductive and sensory losses, so that there are problems in both the outer or middle ear and the inner ear. This type of loss can also be due to damage to the core of the central nervous system, either to the pathways to the brain or to the brain itself. It is important to be careful with all kinds of strong blows in the auditory area, since they are the main cause of this type of deafness.

Central hearing loss

Authors such as Valmaseda and Díaz-Estébanez (1999) speak of this fourth typology, which refers only and exclusively to lesions in the auditory centers of the brain.

Depending on the degree of hearing loss

It is measured in decibels and is classified as mild, moderate, severe or profound loss (cophosis):

• Mild hearing loss (20-40 dB)
  • Difficulty in certain phonemes: audiogenic dislalias
  • Certain problems of reading-writing
  • There is language naturally
• Moderate hearing loss (40 to 70 dB)
  • Difficulty with more phonemas: generalized dislalia
  • Problems of understanding by difficulty of perception
  • Lecto-writing problems
  • There's language.
• Severe hearing loss (70 to 90 dB)
  • There is no speech or only says loose words, those that perceive with greater intensity
  • He has some sound experience.
  • Very altered voice
  • No prosody.
• Deep hearing loss (+90 dB)
  • No sound conscience
  • There's no spontaneous talk.
  • He has no voice control.

To verify the degree of deafness of a person, an audiometry test is done, so that a person with deafness may have problems in the correct perception of the intensity (decibels) or the frequency (hertz) of sounds related to spoken language, and it is common for different results to be given for each ear. Hearing loss is generally described as mild, benign, moderate, severe, or profound, depending on the test mentioned. Generally, when a child with a hearing loss exceeds 90 dB, then it is considered that he needs a specific educational method for deaf people.

Total loss and cophosis

Threshold above 90 dB. It may be due to internal malformations of the ear canal or to the total loss of hearing remains for genetic reasons. Among all deaf people, the percentage of people who suffer from deafness is very small, almost insignificant, since it is a malformation (absence of cochlea, for example).

Depending on the cause of hearing loss

The etiology of hearing impairment can be due to exogenous causes such as maternal rubella during pregnancy, Rh factor incompatibility... and that usually cause other associated problems (visual, motor, cognitive difficulties). Or it could be hereditary deafness, which, being recessive, does not usually cause associated disorders.

According to age of onset of hearing loss

The moment in which hearing impairment appears is decisive for the individual's language development, so 3 groups can be distinguished:

1. Prelocutives: if the disability survived before acquiring oral language (before 2 years).
2. Perilocutives: if the disability occurred while oral language was acquired (2-3 years).
3. Poslocutives: if the disability came after acquiring oral language (after 3 years).

Causes

Genetics

Recessive or dominant genes may be involved. The most common are Stickler syndrome and Waardenburg syndrome among those with dominant genes, and Pendred syndrome, dilated vestibular aqueduct syndrome, and Usher syndrome among those with recessive genes.

Acquired

Otologic

• Presbycusia: first cause of deafness that especially affects high tones in elderly people.
• Otosclerosis: by setting the stirrup in the oval window.
• Average otitis: for example, by adenoiditis (vegetations) that do not disappear after adolescence and obstruct the Eustaquio tube.
• Cerumen cap.

Neurological and post-infectious

• Meningitis
• Meningoencefalitis
• Parotiditis
• Autoimmune diseases.
• Acquired in Pregnancy: The bacteria Chlamydia and the alcoholism of the mother (this in 64% of cases) can be converted into deafness for the newborns. Also syphilis in 30% of cases.
• Early birth.

Drugs

Some medications can cause irreversible damage to the ear; among them is the group of aminoglycosides. Other drugs have negative effects but are reversible.

Traumatic injuries

• In the ear. Among them the exposure to noises above the 90 decibels in the form of temporary or permanent progressive deafness which is the second cause of deafness.
• In the temporal brain.

Medical Treatments

• External hearing aids: In behavioral sorders
• Cochlear implants: With diverse results.

Prevention

It is estimated that half of all cases of hearing impairment and deafness are preventable. There are a number of preventive strategies that are effective including immunization against rubella to reduce congenital infections, immunization against H. influenza and S. pneumoniae to reduce cases of otitis mediana and to prevent or protect against excessive noise exposure. Education about the dangers of hazardous noise exposure increases the use of hearing protectors.

Description

Hearing loss is described as:

• Unilateral or bilateral: The hearing loss occurs in one ear (unilateral) or both (bilateral).
• Prelinguistic or post-linguistic: Loss develops before the person learns to speak (prelingualism) or after this occurs (postlinguistic).
• Symmetric or asymmetric: The hearing loss is manifested in the same degree in both ears (simetric) or differently in each ear (asymmetrical).
• Gradual or sudden: The hearing loss gets worse over time (gradual) or occurs suddenly (repentine).
• Fluctuant or stable: Hearing loss improves or worsens over time (fluctuant) or stays the same (table).
• Congenital or acquired/late apparition: Hearing loss is present from the time of birth (congenital) or comes later (acquired or late).

Causes

True deafness or loss of hearing intensity threshold.

Hearing loss coverage

In Argentina, obras sociales and prepaid medical companies cover hearing loss treatment, hearing aids and hearing aids, and rehabilitation. They also cover the cochlear implant, which is an electronic device that is placed behind the ear and allows a deaf person to partially recover hearing.

In Argentina, home and mobile telephone companies must provide equipment for people with hearing disabilities and provide an adequate service to allow them to communicate.

People with hearing disabilities have priority in the installation of this telephone service when the telephone is their only way of communicating and they should not pay a higher rate for using these phones, the rates must be the same as those of home phones conventional.

Mobile carriers are required to sell compatible equipment for people with hearing loss, and special equipment cannot be larger than regular equipment.

Social consequences

In many cases it can considerably expand the way in which the deaf person relates to their human environment, when they encounter a new form of communication apart from sound, that is, with the visual language. However, the way in which the consequences of this new capacity are understood can vary considerably, so that the deaf person acquires the other fundamental perspective about the existence of visual language and his other identity.

Social anthropology of deafness

Art class at a state school for deaf women, Wisconsin, 1880.

Recent studies, starting with the work of William C. Stokoe in 1960, fundamentally propose to approach deafness from an anthropological point of view. A group of deaf people who communicate with each other through a sign language can be considered a minority linguistic community, with its own culture. The specialized literature often makes the distinction between Deafness, with an initial capital letter, to refer to the anthropological, and deafness, for the clinically defined.

Depending on the cases, a deaf person can normally develop an idiosyncrasy with people who communicate through the visual channel, that is, with sign language (LS), considering themselves as their own differentiated cultural and social community, normally with the definition of Deaf Community. The social bond between deaf signers is usually very strong due, above all, to the social isolation with respect to hearing people, caused by the little knowledge of their common problems, or lifestyle, as well as the little social relationship for reasons of understanding. linguistic or also by preconceived ideas that people have about the deaf which can be changed through full interaction within their culture.

In fact, in this community they define themselves as signing deaf people, and they tend to classify their social environment among hearing people who are not deaf (between which there may be a hearing signer, if they know an LS), and the rest of the deaf people who, depending on the country, may also be part of the Deaf Community. Among deaf people, in addition, signing deaf are distinguished from oralist deaf people, that is, those who do not habitually use an LS or use bimodal communication (lexicon of an LS with grammatical structure of a language oral). Finally, there are the implanted deaf, that is, those who wear a cochlear implant instead of a hearing aid, who can be signers or oralists.

On the other hand, oralist deaf people, that is, those deaf people who have received intense re-education of oral language in their childhood and who do not use a sign language (often as a consequence of an express prohibition by educators), tend to adopt an attitude of social invisibility regarding their condition as a deaf person, sometimes not even recognizing themselves as such (using other definitions such as hearing impaired, hard of hearing, half hearing, etc.). Likewise, this group usually associates as deaf people only those who are signers, or differentiates itself from them by mistakenly defining them as deaf-mute people, especially those who do not speak an oral language correctly in the grammatical aspect.

This last definition, that of deaf-mutism, is considered pejorative by deaf signers and their allies, since they consider that the high illiteracy of oral language among deaf people has no relation to muteness, but rather is due to a Failure of the oral method and the pedagogical method in the educational system. In fact, calling "sordomudo" to a deaf person for not speaking the oral language correctly, it would be equivalent to calling "one-armed" to a person for not writing with the correct spelling, or "blind and one-armed" for not knowing how to read and write. Finally, in the strict sense, "deaf-mutism" It would only be applicable to those who suffer from deafness and, furthermore, are incapable of generating human sounds due to the absence or damage to the vocal cords, being independent aspects of each other.

Associationism in the deaf community

Due to certain factors that have lived in common among the entire deaf community, over time several federations and associations of deaf people have been formed where they can find all kinds of help, facilities, leisure activities and company. Worldwide, there are two that are the most important: the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) or also called the World Federation of the Deaf (FMS) and the European Union of the Deaf (EUD).

• World Federation of Sordos (FMS): is a non-governmental international organization that was born in 1951. This represents approximately 70 million deaf people from around the world. More than 80 per cent of these 70 million live in developing countries, where the country's senior officials are rarely familiar with their needs. The World Federation of Sordos works with the collaboration of the United Nations for the promotion of the human rights of deaf persons. If necessary, the FMS uses special, legal or administrative measures to ensure that deaf people in all countries have the right to preserve their own sign languages, cultural organizations and activities and others. The most important among its priorities are deaf people in developing countries, the right to sign language, and equal opportunities in all spheres of life, including access to education and information that are difficult because of communication barriers. The headquarters of the World Federation of Sordos is located in Helsinki, Finland, at the headquarters of the Finnish Association of Sordos. The proposals that the World Federation intends to improve are: the status of sign languages, education for deaf people, access to information and services and the human rights of deaf people in developing countries.
• European Union of Sordos (EUD): In 1985 it was founded and originated in the Regional Secretariat of the World Federation of Sordos in the European Community (ECRS). It is non-governmental non-profit and represents the interests of European deaf persons. The headquarters is in Brussels and most European countries are part, except Luxembourg, Iceland and Norway.

In Spain we find the State Confederation of Deaf People (CNSE), which is made up of all the federations and associations in the country. Each autonomous community has a federation and there are more than 115 provincial and local associations of deaf people.

Spanish Federations of the Deaf

• FAAS: Andalusian Federation of Sordos Associations
• FESOPRAS: Federación de Sordos del Principado de Asturias
• FESCAN: Cantabria Sordos Federation
• FCSCM: Federation of Castile Deaf Collectives – La Mancha
• FAPSCL: Federation of Associations of Deaf People of Castile – León
• FESOCA: Federación de Sordos de Cataluña
• FEXAS: Extreme Federation of Association of Deaf
• FESORCAM: Federation of Sordos de la Comunidad de Madrid
• FAXPG: Federation of Xordos Associations Do Country Galego
• FASICAN: Federation of Associations of the Canary Islands
• FESORMU: Federation of Sordos de la Comunidad de Murcia
• EUSKAL GORRAK: Basque Federation of Deaf People
• FESORD CV: Federation of Sordos of the Valencian Community

Treatment views

There has been a lot of controversy within the culturally deaf community with cochlear implants. For the most part, there is little objection to those who have lost their hearing later in life, or culturally deaf adults (voluntarily) who have chosen to be provided with a cochlear implant.

Many people in the deaf community are strongly opposed to a deaf child being fitted with a cochlear implant (often with the advice of a medical specialist); new parents may not have enough information about raising deaf children and take oral exposure programs that emphasize the ability to speak and listen over other forms of communication, such as sign language or total communication. Other concerns include culture loss and the limitations of the deaf on hearing restoration.

Most parents and doctors tell kids not to play sports or participate in activities that can cause head injuries, such as soccer, hockey, or basketball. A child with a hearing loss may prefer to stay away from loud places, such as rock concerts, football matches, airports, etc., as this can cause noise spillover, a type of headache that It occurs in many children and adults when they are around loud noises.

Sign Language

Sign language is transmitted through hand and body communication rather than acoustic transmission. This may involve simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express the person's thoughts.

There is no single "sign language". This language develops in communities of deaf people. While using the space for grammar in a way that oral languages do not, sign languages have the same linguistic properties and use the same language faculty as spoken languages. Hundreds of sign languages are in use around the world and are used at the core of local deaf culture. Some sign languages have gained some form of legal recognition, while others have no status. Deaf sign languages are not based on the languages spoken in the region, and often have very different syntax in part, but not entirely, because of their ability to use spatial relationships to express aspects of meaning. (See Relations of sign languages with spoken languages.)

Abbot Charles-Michel of the Épée was the first person to open a school for the deaf. The Épée taught French sign language to children, and began the spread of many schools for the deaf in Europe. Thomas Gallaudet was traveling to England to start a school for the deaf. His inspiration was a nine-year-old girl who lived next door to his house. Seeing his struggles conquer, Gallaudet wanted to teach and see other children conquer their own disabilities. Gallaudet witnessed a demonstration of the skills of teaching the deaf by Roch-Ambroise Cucurron Sicard, Jean Massieu, and Laurent Clerc, the teachers of teaching deaf children at the time. After the show, Gallaudet studied with the French masters and honed his teaching skills. A coup ended the apprenticeship Gallaudet and Clerc traveled to the United States and opened the first school for the deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. The American Sign Language, or ASL, started to evolve primarily from French, and other outside influences.

School

US Government Policies

Texas School for the Deaf

Deaf people have historically seen their access to a free and appropriate public education disabled. A child who is hearing impaired must receive an individualized education plan, such as an IEP, that is deemed to meet the child's language and communication needs. The IEP must include opportunities for direct communication with peers and professionals. It also has to include the academic level of the student, and finally, it has to include the full range of needs of the students" The government also distinguishes between deafness and hearing loss. The United States Department of Education states that deafness is the severe loss that a person cannot process any type of oral information, even if this person has some type of hearing aid enhancement. The US Department of Education states that a hearing impairment is when a person's education is affected by the possibility of being able to feel. This definition is not included in the term deafness. Because a person may need special services, the person must feel more than 20 decibels and their educational performance must be affected by the hearing loss. Here's what the government says about government policies and individualized services.

Inclusion vs. withdrawal

Alexander Graham Bell with teachers and students from Scott's Circle School for Deaf Children, Washington, D.C., 1883

There are mixed opinions on the issue between those who live in deaf communities, and those who have deaf family members who do not live in deaf communities. Deaf communities are typically where only sign languages are used.

Many parents who have a hearing impaired child prefer their child to be in the least restrictive environment of their school. This may be because most hearingless children are born to hearing parents. This may also be due to the recent campaign for inclusion in public schools.

It is often misunderstood that a least restrictive environment means integration or inclusion. Sometimes the resources available in public schools do not match the resources of a residential school for the deaf. Many parents choose to educate their deaf child in a conventional education classroom, since they are told that integration into the public sphere is the least restrictive environment; which is not always the case. Even so, there are groups of parents who consider that the conventional education classroom is not the least restrictive environment. These parents feel that placing their child in a residential school where all children are deaf may be a better fit for their child, since the staff tend to be more aware of the needs and struggles of deaf children. Another reason why these parents feel that a residential school may be more suitable than a conventional education classroom is that the student will not be able to communicate with peers due to the language barrier.

In a residential school where all children use the same language (whether it's an ASL, Full Communication, or Oralism school), students will be able to interact normally with other students without having to worry about being monitored. On the other hand, an argument that best supports the idea of inclusion says that exposing the student to people who are not like him prepares him for adult life. Through interaction, hearing impaired children can learn about other cultures which, in the future, may be beneficial for finding work and living on their own in a society where their disability may place them in a minority. These are some of the reasons why a person may or may not want to put their child in an inclusion classroom.

Myths

There are several myths about deaf people:

1. Deaf people have no permission to drive.
   • Deaf people can drive.
   • Most countries simply require deaf drivers to use both side mirrors. Other countries call for adding panoramic mirrors or visual devices that can convert specific environmental sounds, sirens or claxon into lights.
   • Some third world countries do not give the permission to drive the deaf.
2. All forms of hearing loss can be solved by means of hearing aids or cochlear implants.
   • Although many deaf people can simply use hearing aids to reach desired solutions, there are others who cannot benefit from this use. One of the reasons is that they do not have internal or external ear channels where to place the moulds; another, that the hearing aids are not quite powerful.
   • For some with hearing impairments that can cause distortion of incoming sounds, a cochlear implant may even worsen the distortion. However, a bone-driving hearing aid (with the BAHA acronyms in English) will never affect hearing in a negative way, as it reduces sound through the skull.
3. All deaf people are experts in deaf culture.
   • Not all deaf people are specialized in anthropology.
   • Despite the deafhood, innate understanding, many do not know how to explain it in words.
4. All deaf people want to feel.
   • While some deaf people would want to get the hearing back, it's not everyone's case. Some pride themselves on their deafness or see it as a deaf gainthis has its own benefits.
5. People who can't hear can't use a phone.
   • With today's technologies, through cell phones, video phones, text messages or computers, people with deafness can quietly communicate. Previously, teletypes were used.
   • Some people with moderate hearing loss can use amplified phones.
6. All people who don't hear can read their lips.
   • Only 30% of spoken English is visible on the lips.
   • The reading of the lips requires not only good enlightenment, but also a good understanding of the oral language in question and can also depend on the contextual knowledge of what is being said.
7. Most deaf people have deaf parents.
   • Less than 5 per cent of deaf children in the United States have a deaf parent.
8. All deaf people or those who have hearing problems use the sign language.
   • Not all people with hearing loss know the sign language.

International Day of the Deaf

Every year the International Day of the Deaf is celebrated the last week of the month of September, coinciding with the last Sunday. Although in Spain, it usually coincides with the last Friday or Saturday of the same month.

On this day, the rights and demands of people with hearing disabilities are vindicated, and the cultural wealth of deaf communities around the world is made visible to society.

This date was chosen by the World Foundation for the Deaf (WFD) to commemorate the first World Congress of the WFD which took place in September 1951.