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Impact of Hearing Impairment

Human speech and language normally develops during infancy through communicative exchanges with family members and incidental exposure to the language of the home. Hearing loss restricts exposure and access to this first language. Any degree of hearing loss is likely to have an adverse effect on speech, language rule formation, vocabulary development, phonological awareness, world knowledge, academic achievement, underlying cognitive strategies, and even social skills. Hard of hearing students' inexperience with a first language and resulting limited background knowledge of the world directly impact all aspects of reading and written expression. Because success in academic subjects is largely dependent upon adequate reading and writing skills, hearing loss often negatively impacts academic subjects as well. Social skill development, like language acquisition, is learned through incidental exposure to routines of daily living. Deaf/hard of hearing children often miss the verbal cues and responses during social exchanges and may not be aware of customary social routines.