Hearing loss is not uncommon all throughout the United States, making something such as the safe and sound protocol more important than truly ever before. After all, hearing loss is far more prevalent than many people even actually realize. The data that has been gathered on the subject more than supports this claim, as it shows that up to one fifth of all people throughout this country are experiencing some level of hearing loss to at least some extent and in one ear, if not in both. For up to 36 million people all throughout the United States, dealing with hearing loss has become a part of everyday life.
There are many causes of hearing loss. Among adults – particularly older adults – it is caused by the exposure to loud noises over a lifetime. Up to 26 million American adults, for instance, have some level of high frequency hearing loss that was gained in direct response to loud noise exposure. And this loud noise exposure can happen in a number of different ways. It can even happen from simply attending too many concerts in one’s youth without the proper hearing protection. In addition to this, working in fields like construction where loud machines are used regularly can also lead to serious hearing loss, should proper hearing precautions not be taken. As many people simply do not realize the danger that they are putting their hearing in, such precautions are certainly taken far too infrequently to be protecting the hearing of and preventing hearing loss in all construction workers and other such manual laborers in the United States.
But sometimes hearing loss is nothing more than a genetic disorder or defect. Hearing loss can be present at birth, but can also begin to develop in the childhood years. No matter how this hearing loss first presents, it is quite a bit more common indeed among the population of the children of this country than many people actually realize. After all, hearing loss is sometimes not even discovered until a child reaches elementary school and it is caught by school screening procedures, which have long been a popular part – and an important part – of school health screenings.
Ultimately, when a young child is diagnosed with hearing loss, a safe and sound protocol should be begun. Something like a safe and sound protocol is essential, as going through the course of a safe and sound protocol can help to make the child in question quite a great deal more comfortable in the world. A safe and sound protocol can help them become more confident as well, and is therefore a necessity for many such children. The most effective way to begin this safe and sound protocol is to do it early on in life, but even older children are likely to benefit from a safe and sound protocol.
In addition to a safe and sound protocol, pediatric speech therapists will also play an important role. This is due to the fact that up to 5% of all kids entering school will have some type of speech delay or issue, many of which can be tied to some level of deafness of hearing loss in the children in question. In fact, it is estimated that up to 40 million people in this country, no matter what age, have some type of issue with their speech. Fortunately, the typical pediatric speech therapist is likely to be able to correct many of these problems, should they be addressed relatively early on in life, before they have become too ingrained to correct with any type of relative ease.
At the end of the day, there are many different ways that children of all ages can be taught to manage their hearing difficulties. A safe and sound protocol is just one way, as too is speech therapy, be it speech therapy in Spanish or speech therapy in English or even both (depending on the case in question, of course). At the end of the day, taking action early on in a child’s life is something that will have an immensely positive benefit for their overall health and well being, to say the least.