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This past weekend, I screened the hearing of a young boy.  The results suggested he had an asymmetrical hearing loss, meaning one ear heard better than the other.  When I explained this to him, the boy said, "I was screened at a carnival once and they told my mom the same thing about me.  They told her to take me for a complete test but Mom never did because she said she didn't think I had a hearing loss."  So many things can cause hearing loss: wax, fluid, pressure, nerve damage, head trauma, medications, genetics, etc.   Are you able to look at someone's ears and determine whether or not they have a problem? 

Hearing loss is often referred to as an "invisible disability" because you cannot look at a person and realize they have a hearing impairment. Hearing loss can be mistaken for poor attention and/or a learning disability.  When there is concern for a child's speech development, one of the first steps is to evaluate the child's hearing ability.  The point of this post is to encourage you to have your hearing, or that of your child's, evaluated if there are any concerns.  You may not think your son or daughter is having difficulties but ear infections, which can cause shifts in hearing ability, may go undiagnosed.  If someone at a screening tells you that your child didn't pass, don't poo-poo the results.  You won't know unless you have it checked.

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