Hearling Loss In Teenagers

Hearing Loss in Teenagers Kenzie Grauberger

There is that one teenager at your school with a hearing loss. But he’s just like everybody else, right? Think about it. There are many negative effects of hearing loss on teenagers. Most people say that teenagers with a hearing loss are just the same as those without. They think this because those teenagers with a hearing loss act the same as those without one. They don’t do anything different than those without. However, those teenagers with a hearing loss have to do activities differently than the ones without a hearing loss. Although teenagers with a hearing loss may act the same as those without, they have to work differently, and may have different fears and comfortabilities than those without a hearing loss. Hearing loss, what is it? There are three basic types of hearing loss: conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss, and mixed hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss is when sound is not conducted efficiently through the outer ear canal to the eardrum and the tiny bones (ossicles) of the middle ear. This type of hearing loss leads to the inability to hear faint sounds or involves a reduction in sound level. Sensorineural hearing loss is when there is damage to the inner ear (cochlea) or the nerve pathways from the inner ear to the brain. Most of the time, this cannot be medically or surgically corrected. It is the most common type of permanent hearing loss. Mixed hearing loss is a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss, causing damage to the outer or middle ear, and in the inner ear (cochlea) or auditory nerve. People need to understand this so that when they do come across someone with a hearing loss, they will have a general idea on how they feel about it and the struggle they have to go through to get where they are today. Teenagers with a hearing loss are the same as those without a hearing loss. Many people think that all teenagers act the same, even with a hearing loss. They do everything the same way, think the same way, even speak the same way. Those many people think this way because all the teenagers with a hearing loss look the exact same as the other teenagers. It looks like they do everything the same. It looks like they aren’t any different than any other teenager. But are they really? To begin, teenagers with a hearing loss are more isolated compared to the ones without. They become more isolated because they have trouble communicating with people, the hearing loss leads to a little embarrassment, the feeling of discrimination of others. As Clason mentions, “Children are often isolated from their peers or become withdrawn because they have difficulty communicating or are embarrassed by their hearing handicap” (Healthy Hearing). This means teenagers with a hearing loss don’t go out and talk with people because they have troubles communicating with them. From personal experience, I seem to become more isolated because I can’t hear people, and always ask the question “What did you say”? It leads to embarrassment for me because I feel like I say it more than once, and the other person gets annoyed, and then I feel bad and embarrassed. Jen Grauberger points out that the teenagers with a hearing loss feel different than teenagers without a hearing loss and feel like they don’t fit in due to that.

Teenagers feel discriminated because they aren’t like everybody else, so they feel like they don’t fit in and don’t go to activities with other people. Secondly, teenagers with a hearing loss tend to have poor family relationships. They aren't able to give their family a feel of how the hearing loss is, and aren't able to express their feelings as well. The family doesn't understand what the teenager with a hearing loss is going through. As Clason writes, “Children with hearing loss often have trouble articulating their feelings, which makes communication frustrating for family members” (Healthy Hearing). Communicating with family members is an important part of life, and if teenagers can't do that, especially as a teenager, then it might lead to stress. With personal experiences, I tend to make my family a little mad when I can't hear them, because I say “what” a lot. This makes them angry, and they don't want to repeat themselves and I get in trouble. This pushes me away from my family a little, so as a result, I don't talk to them as much. Another personal experience is when I'm talking to my family about me hearing loss, they tend to ask a lot of questions, and then they realize I am a totally different person with this hearing loss. This makes me feel slightly different from them, and makes me feel like I can't show them my feelings and disabilities, which leads to me feeling not as close to my family members. On top of all the stress from school, teenagers with a hearing loss have more stress and depression. The thought of being different and being treated different has a big effect on these teenagers. “Some youth with hearing loss might feel frustrated by the sense of being ‘different.’ this can lead to social isolation, withdrawal and other symptoms of depression” (“Child Development and Hearing Loss”). This quote from the article “Child Development and Hearing Loss” is saying that many teenagers with a hearing loss feel different and left out, so they become stressed or depressed. Better Hearing did a project and put hearing aids on people with different severities of hearing loss. “All five hearing aid wearer groups reported significantly lower depressive symptoms (e.g., tired, insomniac, thinking of death) while four of the five hearing aid wearer groups (quintiles 1-4) reported a significantly lower incidence of depression within the last 12 months compared to their non-wearer counterparts” (Sergei Kochkin, Ph.D.). This shows that teenagers with a hearing loss do have more stress and depression than other teenagers. From personal experience, I have noticed that I have become a little more stressed over things because I can’t hear in loud places, and in school, if the teacher is talking and other students are talking, then I have troubles hearing the teacher. If I can’t hear the teacher, I can’t get the assignment, and I fail the assignment, and I am not that kind of student. It makes it difficult for me, and I become more stressed, and even a little depressed. Teenagers with a hearing loss definitely are not like those without a hearing loss. Teenagers with a hearing loss have different feelings, thoughts, and even do things different than those teenagers without a hearing loss. They communicate differently, have different family

relations, become more stressed and depressed, and even more! Hearing loss is common in many teenagers and growing in numbers today. My point being, treat all people the same, whether they are different or not. They want to be the same as everybody else, and it is very difficult to do that when all they are is let down. Now, turn down that music, and try to stay away from loud places as much as possible.