Ear test: what is and what is its importance for the child

Ear test: what is and what is its importance for the child


The ear test is still performed on maternity and can indicate early hearing problems, which tend to worst in adulthood

According to the American Academy of otorhinolaringergology and head and neck surgery, at birth, One on every thousand children has a significant loss of permanent hearing. Therefore, it is important to perform the ear test, which can still occur on motherhood and helps identify hearing problems in the newborn.




Ear test

According to the pediatric otolaringiatra Juliana Caixeta, the exam is extremely important and also quite simple. “The ear test is fast, painless and has no contraindication. Its realization helps to see if the child’s hearing is developing as expected, “he explains.

The doctor also underlines that the exam allows it Early diagnosis. “When the test indicates some hearing changes in the child, it undergoes complementary tests. Once he confirmed the loss of hearing, the child passes through the premature intervention program, which includes the use of amplification devices, speech therapist and even a cochlear implant surgery,” says the expert.

The auditory development of the child

It is important that parents are aware of the Auditory development of the child. According to the otolaringoiatra, when the child’s hearing is normal, immediately after birth, he is able to recognize the sound of his mother’s voice and differentiate it from the voice of others.

Already in the 5th month after birth, the child identifies himself when he is called by name. And at ten months, the child focuses on listening to music, looks at the family when named, includes simple orders and is able to identify objects by name. This learning advances quickly and between nine months and 1 year and 4 months, the child already speaks his first words.

Not recognizing and treating a disability can strongly influence a child’s ability to speak and understand the language. Disability can lead to low performance at school, communication difficulties with colleagues, social isolation and emotional difficulties.

It is important to highlight it Speech of light and moderate hearing It can be more difficult to detect, both family members and doctors. In such cases, the development of language occurs, but slower. At school, the child can often have school difficulties or get angry when the noise in class is intense.

Children begin to listen during pregnancy

The child Start listening around the 20th week of gestationor 5th month of pregnancy. In this phase he is already able to capture his mother’s heartbeat, his voice and some external sounds.

According to the pediatric otolaringiatra Juliana Caixeta, the child’s auditory development is gradual. “At the beginning it can only process low frequency sounds and this function is perfected as pregnancy advances,” explains the doctor.

Also, the sounds that reach the child are different from those we feel. “Being inside the uterus and inside a bag full of liquid, the sounds that reach the child have distortions, the greatest change occurs in the sound of the consonants. Since in vowels, the tone of language and musical melodies seem to be well recognized between the sixth and 8th month of gestation”, explains the otolaryngologist.

Another peculiarity is the voice tone. Physical studies show that serious sounds are better than crossing barriers and become stronger than acute, due to the vibration that cause in the liquid environment. Juliana Caixeta clarifies him intrauterine hearing plays an important role in the construction of the family relationship.

“From the 6th month of gestation, parents can and should speak with their child, put the music to listen to and stimulate it for touch and with the caresses of the belly, since the vibrations caused by the liquid inside the uterus provide the fetus a tactile experience”, advises the doctor.

He also underlines the importance of his father who participates in these moments. “Therefore, when the child begins to hear the voice of the parents, it is easier to create ties and recognize similarities in the postnatal period,” he says.

Children and languages

Children build knowledge of their language in the first months of life. In the first contacts with sounds, they get used to the characteristic rhythm of the language. Up to six months of age, children have an incredible ability to identify different phonemes and this ability is gradually lost to the first year of life.

Juliana Caixeta indicates that it comes from this age that Brazilian children can know if they are listening to a song in Portuguese or English, for example.

“This inability to identify the phonemes clearly makes, from the age of 2, every language presented to the child to be identified in the brain as a second language”, explains the expert. Therefore, the only way for the individual to be considered “native” is often exposed to more than one language before the second year of life.

Source: Terra

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