Types of hearing loss
There are two main types of deafness. The first happens when there is a fault in the inner ear – usually in the cochlea. This is called ‘sensorineural deafness’ and is permanent. The level of hearing loss may be described as mild, moderate, severe or profound and may not be the same in each ear, with only a few children totally deaf.
The second type happens when sounds fail to pass efficiently through the outer and middle ear to the cochlea and auditory nerve. This is most commonly caused by a build-up of fluid in the middle ear, often referred to as ‘glue’ ear. This is known as ‘conductive deafness’ and is the most common type of hearing loss. A conductive loss is likely to fluctuate and be temporary.
Impact on development
A significant hearing loss can have a major impact on other aspects of a child’s development – particularly on communication and social interaction skills.
The child may use sign language, speech or a combination of the two. Unless steps are taken to help the child feel confident in social situations, they are likely to be withdrawn – remaining on the edge of groups of children or preferring a one-to-one activity with an adult.
https://www.teachearlyyears.com/a-unique-child/view/sen-understanding-sensory-impairment
What can be done to improve social skills?
Play with your child to help develop joint attention, turn-taking, shared interests, cooperation and appropriate play with toys.
Emotions: Help the child to understand and display their own emotions and to recognise these emotions in other people.
Empathy: Help the child to understand and recognise how other people are feeling in particular situations.
Social stories: These are stories which are used to teach children specific social skills that they may find difficult to understand or are confusing. The goal of the story is to increase the child’s understanding by describing in detail a specific situation and suggesting an appropriate social response.