Abstract This paper discusses how hearingloss can affect someone in terms of communication and psychosocial functioning. It includes citations from literature discussing the effects of hearingloss as well as a summary of findings after interviewing a person with medically diagnosed hearingloss.
From the Paper "Hearing loss is one of the most common disabilities in the United States with recent statistics indicating that approximately ..."
Tags:hearingloss, interview, psychosocial, communication
Abstract A book review which explains the psychological, social and spiritual facets of hearingloss. It also offers a testimony of how each of the individuals referred to emerged triumphant, via the vehicles of therapeutic dialogue and self-help measures, thus vanquishing the interplay of social forces that perpetrate the invisibility and augment the physical and mental torment of the deaf.
Abstract This paper explains the differences between disease and injury as the cause of hearingloss. The author points out the OSHA guidelines on hearing conservation, the problem of occupational noise in the railroad industry and the Federal Railroad Administration occupational noise standard. The paper relates in detail the FRA historic treatment of occupational noise including the first study of noise in locomotive cabs, the FRA report to Congress and the studies that followed in response to this report.
From the Paper "Hearing is perhaps one, of the five senses, that is often take for granted. The alarm going off in the morning, the children playing outside, even the rain pattering on the window are all sounds that become so commonplace that it's easy to ignore how wonderful hearing truly is. However, when hearing loss occurs it then becomes painfully clear just how important this sense is and how it is so important to one's quality of life. This report will discuss the topic of hearing loss in the workplace, specifically that of the locomotive engineer. It will begin with a discussion of the differences between disease and injury. Next will be an overview of OSHA's guidelines on hearing conservation as well as a discussion of occupational noise in the railroad industry and the Federal Railroad Administration's occupational noise standard."
Abstract A paper concerning a 9-year-old boy with a hearing problem. The paper explores the signals that indicate this child has a hearing problem and the importance of recognizing students with hearing difficulties.
Abstract This paper discusses the issue of hearingloss and provides suggestions regarding what can be done to help improve upon the ability of enforcing hearing protection standards in order to reduce hearingloss among soldiers. The paper claims that the military has been contending with this issue throughout its history, and the current war in Iraq will only intensify the situation regarding soldiers suffering from hearingloss or tinnitus. The paper assesses that the United States Army is in a position where it could reevaluate the entire toxic noise issue and other causes of hearingloss and establish viable preventative methods.
Outline
Introduction
HearingLoss Historical Situation
Current Situation
Off Duty
Illness Related
Noise Related
New Technology
Recommendations
Conclusion
From the Paper "The upper echelon of ranking officials must be privy to the overall cost associated with hearing loss and lost communication as well as the other safety risk factors soldiers face once they have lost their ability to consciously hear. ?Noise-induced hearing loss is a significant unmet socioeconomic problem in industrial societies. It is estimated that 30 million individuals are exposed to injurious levels of noise each day, contributing significantly to the overall cost of hearing loss in the nation of $56B per year. In addition to loud noise of various types, many pathological conditions affecting the inner ear, such as traumatic injury, toxins, aging, infection, and some genetic conditions may be associated with the excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to oxidative stress.? (PR Newswire, 2003)"
Abstract The writer explores what previous studies have indicated about hearingloss and outlines the method that will be used for the purpose of this study. This proposal examines the hearingloss population of the United States and determines why people fail to report or seek treatment for their hearingloss. The paper explains that by understanding this phenomena, steps can be taken to educate the public on the importance of early recognition and treatment of adult hearingloss. The paper researches how many of those who are experiencing hearingloss have failed to seek medical attention or report it and why they failed to do so.
Outline:
Introduction
Hypothesis
Plan of Implementation
Literature Review
Methodology
Summary
From the Paper "For many years it has been an accepted fact that hearing is a natural part of aging however recent history has shown society that industrialized nations have more widespread incidences of hearing loss than the less industrialized nations have. This has been attributed to the non-natural causes of hearing loss that occurs within industrialized nations. Hearing loss caused by noise and other environmental factors creates a hotbed of hearing loss in an otherwise healthy population in these countries yet it has also been found that the hearing loss often goes untreated for many years(Scherer, 1998)."
Abstract This paper explains the multiple problems of preventing hearingloss in the army: (1) while the command structure demands the use of hearing protective equipment, the exigencies of military maneuvers might make it difficult for soldiers to comply readily and still carry out their major missions; (2) the loss of army audiologists; and (3) military equipment is even noisier, so that the need for protection is greater than ever before. The author states that, in order to determine what strategies the U.S. Army can take to improve HPD use and concomitantly decrease hearingloss, current instructions and sanctions regarding that issue need to be determined. The paper relates that the research methodology will examine, in one command only, the protocols for issuing HPDs and for ensuring their use, the sanctions imposed for noncompliance, and their auditory history as compared to the Army in general.
Table of Contents
Introduction and Statement of the Problem
Cost of HearingLoss Literature Review and Research Questions
Behavioral Issues
Technical Investigations
Methodology
Appendix A: New Generation Earcups and ANR
Appendix B: Tables of Hearing-Related Issues, U.S. Armed Forces
From the Paper "If it were not true that the armed forces experiences many departures from perfect adherence to use of protective equipment, then the vast numbers of military audiologists deployed to increase the armed forces? capability for monitoring audiometry would not have been needed. For a long time, "the Army had more than three times as many military audiologists than the Navy and twice as many as the Air Force. In addition, the Army has had a mainframe database of audiometric records for the last 16 years".?. However, Ohlin noted that there had been a loss of more than 50 Army military audiologists in the decade before he wrote his report, effectively removing ?the message bearer for hearing conservation and the functional linchpin that in large programs is required to coordinate the implementation of all hearing conservation program elements.? "
Abstract This paper examines how hearingloss is a physical impediment that leads to the defective function or the total loss of the sense of audition. It looks at how the type and extent of hearingloss varies in each individual, depending on age of onset of the health condition and the factors that triggered the onset and how several factors, which may be hereditary or environmental, can hasten the occurrence of a loss of hearing. In particular, it examines how different research institutes have come up with various kinds of medical and social services to ease the adjustment of people with hearing impediments.
From the Paper "It is initially essential to know that there are two general kinds of hearing loss: deafness and hard of hearing, the former being less severe than the latter because some residual hearing is still present to keep an individual's audition, or sense of hearing, functional, although already defective. Deafness, on the other hand, is worse, since as Hardman, Drew and Egan (2005) refer to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, deafness is defined as a "leading impairment which is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing with or without amplification, which adversely affects educational performance" (p. 411)."
Abstract The paper evaluates the effects of neonatal hearingloss on the quality of bonding with hearing parents, bonding in general, bonding of parents to special needs children, the interaction of hearing parents with the deaf infants and the psychosocial stressors on parents with special needs children. The paper reviews the procedures surrounding universal newborn hearing screening, its effectiveness and the satisfaction parents feel with currently used hearing screening processes.
From the Paper "Definitions are often helpful before a full literature review is undertaken. For the purposes of this study, we shall consider congenital permanent hearing loss to be defined as impairment > 40 decibels (dB) at the time of screen, relative to the threshold level. This level is considered significant in that hearing loss at this level is associated with greater than average deficit in verbal compared with non-verbal abilities up to 25 intelligence quotient (IQ) points (Yoshinaga-Itano, 1998)."
Abstract This paper consists of an expository essay, which argues that sight deprivation is more threatening than hearingloss. This is written from a middle-age perspective, and focuses on psychological effects.
A review of several articles covering issues relating to interaction with hearing impaired individuals and the challenges that they face on a daily basis.
2,925 words (approx. 11.7 pages), 7 sources, 2005, $ 115.95
Abstract Because there is no single demographic for people with hearingloss, there is no single correct manner to interact with them or to assist them at work, school, recreation, or other activities of daily living. This paper reviews several articles on various aspects of interacting with the hearing impaired, as well as articles that examine issues that such individuals face in society today. In addition, this paper examines the historical focus on these issues, along with their relevance to vocational rehabilitation both at the present and in the future.
From the Paper "Who are the deaf and hearing impaired? Can we recognize them at a glance? Are they limited to any one age group, sex, race, or color? The answer to these questions would be "no." People with impaired hearing take part in the same activities as we all do, range from very old, to very young, and are represented in every racial and ethnic group. Hearing loss can be congenital, or it can be acquired by accident, disease, or age. Because there is no single demographic for people with hearing loss, there is no single correct manner to interact with them or to assist them at work, school, recreation, or other activities of daily living."
Abstract This paper explains that congenital cytomegalovirus is the most common cause of hearingloss, generally sensorineural hearingloss,and brain damage in children. The author points out that nearly half of the infants born with symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection develop a hearingloss; but this hearingloss does not develop until later (late-onset hearingloss), which suggests that babies born with congenital cytomegalovirus should have their hearing consistently monitored. This paper relates that, as yet, there is no vaccine against human cytomegalovirus, but there are methods of management and treatment, which prevent infection and reactivation of infection or suppress and preempt current infection.
From the Paper "Human congenital cytomegalovirus is the most common intrauterine infection and can be present in three forms; latent, non-productive yet asymptomatic, or productive and symptomatic. Cytomegalovirus is also the largest member of the herpes virus family. This is because it is common for hearing loss and other symptoms of the virus to occur later in life after infancy, as the virus is a member of the betaherpesviridae family where slow growth of the virus is common. Ninety-five percent of infants born with the Cytomegalovirus infection appear normal. It can infect both humans and animals. This virus can be transmitted through oropharyngeal secretions, urine, cervical and vaginal secretions, spermatic fluids, breast milk and blood, and is usually transmitted to a fetus by transplacental means. The studies mentioned in this paper focus strictly on human congenital cytomegalovirus."
Abstract This paper explains that the majority of people will experience hearingloss to greater or lesser extent as they get older because, with aging, the inner ear (cochlea) containing nerve cells, which convert sound into nervous impulses that are sent to the brain, don't work as well and eventually begin to degenerate. The author points out that most people do not go completely deaf and the severity of the hearingloss varies from person to person of the same age. The paper examines some research projects, whose apparent success might provide hope that one day hearingloss will no longer be associated with old age and can be reversed; another study describes the psychosocial consequences of hearingloss, which indicated that the majority of the people with presbyacusis did not report many quality of life distractions besides the inability to listen to the music. Glossary.
From the Paper "Research was conducted by using senescence-accelerated mice (SAM) that develop progressive hearing loss at an early age. Mice were irradiated with 9Gy and later injected with 4x10 bone marrow cells from 2-month-old mice. After three months, the auditory brainstem response (ABR) was measured in order to evaluate the progress of hearing loss. It was noted that mice showed age-related hearing impairment above 2000Hz. After ABR and splenectomy five mice from experimental and control group were subject to further procedures, involving "intracardiac perfusion with saline followed by periodate-lysin-paraform aldehyde fixation and decalcification at 4 degrees C .in 5% buffered ethylene diaminetetra-acetate for seven days." The results showed that the immune system in mice was reconstituted by the donor cells and the age-related impairment of T-cell function is corrected. The age-related auditory response is also ameliorated after the manipulations."
Abstract The following paper provides the reader with facts and information on how sound is produced, its characteristics, the ways in which humans process it and how in turn we can prevent hearing problems by treating infections in the ear and using ear plugs in increased noise levels.
From the Paper ?We are all familiar with the three structural parts of the ear, i.e., the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. In the process of hearing, we already know that it is in the outer ear that sound waves collect and from there are moved to the middle ear by vibrating against the eardrum or tympanum membrane. In the middle ear, these sound waves are changed into a mechanical type of vibration by the tiny bones there. And in the inner ear are special so-called "hair cells" that perceive these mechanical vibrations from the middle ear and trigger an impulse that is send to that specific part of the brain that hears. (GSLC) These ear parts are so organized as to transmit sound waves to the brain. Five steps are, thus, involved in the hearing process. which are the air conduction through the external ear to the eardrum; the bone conduction through the middle ear to the inner ear; the water conduction to the Organ of Corti; the nerve conduction into the brain; and finally, the interpretation by the brain of the message received through the sound waves?.
Abstract Discusses various hearing aid devices. Earliest forms of hearing aids and their development. Direction of future hearing aid design. First techniques and devices to combat hearingloss. Ear trumpets, the acoustic throne. How acoustic hearing aids work. Electronic and carbon hearing aids. Vacuum hearing aids. Transistors. Implant controversy.
From the Paper "Vision and hearing may be the most critical of the five human senses in terms of everyday existence. Certainly being completely deprived of either of these two senses makes it difficult to even move about one's environment safely, and communication is made much more difficult if one lacks vision or hearing. Both senses tend to deteriorate with age, and both can be disrupted by accident, illness or from environmental factors. In the case of aging and even environmental factors (such as ongoing exposure to loud noises), the senses deteriorate over time, but with other factors, such as illness or accident, the sensory loss can be immediate. Humankind has developed various devices for assisting those who lose visual or auditory acuity, and individuals begin compensating for the loss of these senses without artificial devices..."
