As a support worker you may be asked to take notes for a student with a hearing impairment.

Students with hearing impairment may missing words or sentences, miss what contributors to a seminar are saying and find it difficult to follow the flow of an explanation. Trying to catch what is being said can be very tiring. A student with profound hearing loss may be very isolated and may not be able to hear anything that is being said in a lecture. A note taker is able to fill in some of these gaps and ensure that the student has comprehensive notes to accompany presentations and other teaching material.

Conductive Hearing loss

This type of hearing loss is sometimes referred to as sensory, cochlear, neural or inner ear hearing loss. It is the result of sounds not being able to pass freely to the inner ear.

This usually results from a blockage in the outer or middle ear, such as a build-up of excess ear wax or fluid from an ear infection (it is especially common in children).

It can also happen as a result of some abnormality in the structure of the outer ear, ear canal or middle ear.

The result of this type of hearing loss is that sounds become quieter, although not usually distorted. Depending on its cause, a conductive hearing loss can either be temporary or permanent.

Sensorineural hearing loss

Sensorineural hearing loss is the result of damage to the hair cells within the cochlea or the hearing nerve (or both). Once the cochlea hair cells become damaged, they will remain damaged.

Sensorineural hearing loss not only changes our ability to hear quiet sounds, but it also reduces the quality of the sound that is heard meaning that individuals with this type of hearing loss will often struggle to understand speech.

Causes of sensorineural hearing loss:

Age

One in six people in the UK are deaf or hard of hearing.

Most are older people who are gradually losing their hearing as part of the ageing process.

More than 50% of people over the age of 60 have some degree of hearing loss.

Damage to the cochlea occurs naturally as part of the ageing process – but there are many things that cause sensorineural hearing loss, or add to it.

Noise-induced hearing loss

Prolonged and repeated exposure to loud noise and distorted sound– whether at work or when listening to loud music – can damage your hearing.

The World Health Organisation reports that noise exposure is a major cause of permanent hearing loss around the world. Recent academic research confirms that it is the second most common form of hearing loss after age-related hearing loss - and it’s avoidable. This kind of hearing loss is a public health and education issue.

Genetics

In the UK approximately one in 1,600 children is born moderately to profoundly deaf because of a genetic cause.

Some people are especially prone to hearing loss due to a genetic predisposition.

Other

Hearing loss may be caused by some drugs, infectious disease such as Rubella, head trauma and tumours.

Please return to the Types of Disability section.