Hearing impairment affects many children and adults either temporarily (e.g. fluctuating hearing loss in children) or permanently. Hearing loss in childhood can severely delay speech and language development, and most adults will experience a deterioration in their hearing as they get older. This detailed document describes the process of hearing, what can go wrong, hearing assessment and getting hearing aids.

To determine an individual’s level of hearing or investigate hearing loss, an ssessment needs to take place. There are several types of hearing tests that focus on different aspects of the hearing mechanism.

This article provides an overview of hearing aids and cochlear implants, how they work and how to benefit from them.

There are a many devices available to help hearing impaired individuals perform their daily activities more effectively. As well as hearing aids, there are a number of devices that can be used around the home.

Children with hearing impairment often have some degree of speech and/or language delay. There are a number of different approaches to facilitate speech and language in these cases, and these depend on several factors including the level of hearing impairment, whether the child has a cochlear implant and the wishes and/or commitment of the parents.

The big advantage of a cochlear implant over a normal hearing aid is that you are able to hear spoken language and speech sounds more acutely, and this facilitates more natural speech development.