These deficits are often hard to recognize unless you’re really looking for them, said Nancy Young, MD, head of the section of otology/neurotology and medical director of the Audiology & Cochlear Implant Programs at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, the Lillian S. Wells Professor in pediatric otolaryngology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and a professor and fellow at the Knowles Hearing Center in the department of communication sciences and disorders at the Northwestern University School of Communication. “A young child with SSD must work so much harder to focus and understand what’s being said when background sounds are present, which is quite fatiguing. The child will start fidgeting and not pay attention,” said Dr. Young, who is also a co-author of the new ACIA guidelines. “For most teachers, this looks like just another fidgety kid who has two normal hearing ears.”
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August 2022
Nancy Young, MD
A young child with SSD must work so much harder to focus and understand what’s being said when background sounds are present, which is quite fatiguing. … For most teachers, this looks like just another fidgety kid who has two normal hearing ears. —Nancy Young, MD
Meredith A. Holcomb, AuD, CCC-A, director of the Hearing Implant Program and an associate professor in the department of otolaryngology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Ear Institute, agreed that CI can yield significant improvements in speech development and socialization. “The cochlear implant not only allows patients to hear but provides them with the opportunity to understand speech and develop language and auditory skills,” she said. “Cochlear implants also positively affect a child’s academic performance, mental health, and quality of life. Additionally, cochlear implants have been found to have a positive impact on parent–child dynamics.”
Lack of Awareness of SSD Treatment
Unfortunately, these benefits can’t accrue if qualified SSD candidates are missed due a knowledge gap in the treatment community. And that gap does exist, Dr. Bush noted. “Outside of pediatric audiology, otology, neurotology, and potentially a small subset of educators and speech language pathologists, there isn’t a lot of awareness of the approval of CI for SSD, nor the existence of the data that led to the guidelines being written,” he said.
That lack of awareness can be compounded by challenges in adequately screening for SSD, Dr. Holcomb noted. “Due to the nature of SSD, some children may be missed on newborn hearing screens, particularly in those states that screen with otoacoustic emissions only,” she explained. “If the hearing loss isn’t identified at birth, the child will likely be identified later in school or during pediatrician screenings. We need to provide more education to audiologists and pediatricians on this treatment option so that timely referrals are made.”