Valley Center of the Deaf

The consequences of deafness, depending on when it occurs before or after learning language, are equally difficult but not consistent. These two conditions are referred to as pre-lingual deafness and post-lingual deafness, respectively. A prelingually deaf person is either born without enough hearing to learn speech, or loses their hearing through genetics or accident before they have learned speech. Without that foundation in speech, a prelingual person will have more trouble learning how to communicate with speaking parents. However, it’s been shown that children who are born into families that know how to sign do not have a delay in learning non-vocalized language. Regardless of their family environment, prelingually-deaf people have a tendency toward social isolation, due to delayed social development and the difficulty of picking up auditory cues.Post-lingual deafness occurs after the point of picking up language. This is the more common of the two, and the affected person generally already has a network of friends and family to lean on during their time of need. Post-lingual deafness also usually occurs gradually, so the person may be able to anticipate a means of dealing with the loss. However, as the old adage goes, “you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” Someone who has experience language will miss it more than someone who has never had it. Those affected by post-lingual deafness have to adapt to hearing aids or implants in order to continue living independently. Technology developed to aid communication between deaf and hearing people, including videophones and telephone typewriters, can be helpful but intimidating.In both cases, the efforts of the people around them can play a large part in how a person adapts to their hearing loss. While some challenges can only be overcome by the individual himself or herself, there are many other ways that their friends and family can help make their lives easier.The effects of hearing loss can also differ based on the severity of the hearing impairment. Doctors categorize hearing loss based on the loudness that a sound has to be before being detected. Mild hearing loss levels differ for children (20-40 dB) and adults (27-40 dB), but the other levels are consistent across the age spectrum: moderate (41-55 dB), moderately severe (56-70 dB), severe (71-90 dB), and profound (90 dB and greater). Obviously, those with a less severe level of hearing loss will be able to hear more than someone with profound hearing loss, but they may still have to adapt with hearing aids or cochlear implants to be able to localize sound or differentiate between speech and background noise.