The 2009-10 Annual Survey of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children and Youth of the Gallaudet Research Institute, Gallaudet University revealed the demographics of deaf or hard hearing (DHH) children and youth with no other conditions and those with other conditions such as low vision, blindness, developmental delay, learning disability, emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairment, intellectual disability, and autism.
Out of a total of 32334 DHH children and youth surveyed nationwide with known information, 19741 or 61.1% had no other conditions or disabilities, with 2720 or 56.1% coming from the Northeast, 4009 or 57.3% from the Midwest, 8428 or 63.9% from the South, and 4584 62.9% from the West. There were 1228 or 3.8% DHH children and youth …show more content…
The Northeast had more cases of hearing loss with developmental delay, low vision, learning disability, orthopedic impairment, emotional disturbance, and autism. The Midwest had more prevalence of hearing loss with developmental delay, learning disability, intellectual disability (mental retardation), emotional disturbance, and autism. The South had more cases of hearing loss with developmental delay, blindness, orthopedic impairment, and intellectual disability (mental retardation). Lastly, the West had more prevalence of hearing loss with developmental delay, learning disability, and orthopedic impairment. Note that developmental delay is prevalent in all …show more content…
Practitioners should develop more expertise not only in providing comprehensive services for multiple disabilities occurring at the same time, but also in assessing multiple disabilities, which can sometimes be misdiagnosed because of their interrelatedness and complexity. The most interesting observation from this survey that we cannot afford to overlook is the prevalence of developmental delay in all the regions surveyed. Deafness can cause more serious developmental delay if not intervened early that can impact children’s later developments in life. That is why early intervention for birth to three years old children is crucial (Sass-Lehrer, 2011). It is a bad impression but a probability that some of the other disabilities reported in this survey such as learning disability, intellectual disability, and emotional disturbance might have been products of developmental delay of DHH children that had not been addressed appropriately. Hence, it is extremely necessary that states should place more emphasis on addressing developmental delay of DHH children through comprehensive and effective early intervention services. The early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) process: newborn hearing screening, hearing evaluation, and early intervention (Sass-Lehrer,
Out of a total of 32334 DHH children and youth surveyed nationwide with known information, 19741 or 61.1% had no other conditions or disabilities, with 2720 or 56.1% coming from the Northeast, 4009 or 57.3% from the Midwest, 8428 or 63.9% from the South, and 4584 62.9% from the West. There were 1228 or 3.8% DHH children and youth …show more content…
The Northeast had more cases of hearing loss with developmental delay, low vision, learning disability, orthopedic impairment, emotional disturbance, and autism. The Midwest had more prevalence of hearing loss with developmental delay, learning disability, intellectual disability (mental retardation), emotional disturbance, and autism. The South had more cases of hearing loss with developmental delay, blindness, orthopedic impairment, and intellectual disability (mental retardation). Lastly, the West had more prevalence of hearing loss with developmental delay, learning disability, and orthopedic impairment. Note that developmental delay is prevalent in all …show more content…
Practitioners should develop more expertise not only in providing comprehensive services for multiple disabilities occurring at the same time, but also in assessing multiple disabilities, which can sometimes be misdiagnosed because of their interrelatedness and complexity. The most interesting observation from this survey that we cannot afford to overlook is the prevalence of developmental delay in all the regions surveyed. Deafness can cause more serious developmental delay if not intervened early that can impact children’s later developments in life. That is why early intervention for birth to three years old children is crucial (Sass-Lehrer, 2011). It is a bad impression but a probability that some of the other disabilities reported in this survey such as learning disability, intellectual disability, and emotional disturbance might have been products of developmental delay of DHH children that had not been addressed appropriately. Hence, it is extremely necessary that states should place more emphasis on addressing developmental delay of DHH children through comprehensive and effective early intervention services. The early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) process: newborn hearing screening, hearing evaluation, and early intervention (Sass-Lehrer,