The Psychological and Emotional Impact of Hearing Loss on School-Aged Children

Abstract

School-aged children with hearing loss face significant psychological and emotional concerns that normal hearing children do not. Relevant studies identified children with hearing loss have an overall poorer global self esteem, poorer academic achievement, increased loneliness and behavioral issues. Research has speculated on the appropriate classroom environments best suited for these children, and comparisons have been made on mainstream and specialized classroom environments. The literature demonstrates mainstream classrooms correlating to a higher rate of speech intelligibility, and increased social competence amongst children with hearing loss than compared to the specialized classrooms.