Nursery World - Child health: ears: Sound systems

A child's speech depends on their hearing and carers should be on the look-out for problems, says Maggie Jones

Since it became known that babies can hear in the womb, expectant couples have sometimes been caught playing Mozart, jazz or other favourite music to their eagerly anticipated unborn. After birth, babies are able to recognise their mother's voice. From then on the ability to hear is vital for a child to imitate the sounds of speech and develop language.

Unfortunately, however, many children suffer from either temporary or permanent hearing loss. A total of 840 children are born every year with a permanent hearing impairment, and thousands more will experience temporary hearing loss from a number of causes, including ear infections and 'glue ear' (see below).

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