1.What is hearing impairment? Hearing impairment refers to the difficulty in hearing in both ears due to various reasons, unable to hear or unable to hear environmental sounds and speech sounds. The degree includes the following: 1), mild (hearing threshold 26 ~ 40dBHL): difficulty listening to the sound of conversation 2), moderate (hearing threshold 41 ~ 60dBHL): difficulty listening to loud speech 3), severe (hearing threshold 61 ~ 80dBHL): shouting into the ear can only hear a few words 4), very severe (hearing threshold 80dBHL or more): shouting into the ear can not hear any words 5), hearing impairment can directly affect people’s life, work and study. ), hearing impairment can directly affect people’s life, work and study; for children, it can affect the development of their language ability. 2.What is the prevalence of hearing impairment in children? What are the hazards? The prevalence of congenital hearing impairment in newborns is 1‰~2‰, and permanent hearing impairment can continue to increase with age. Childhood is a critical period for speech and language development, and if hearing impairment is not detected in time and effective interventions are taken during this period, it can lead to backward speech development and behavioral problems in mild cases; in severe cases, it can lead to serious speech development disorders, and even affect the development of children’s emotional, psychological and social communication skills, which can cause a heavy burden to families and society. Therefore, early detection and early intervention of hearing impairment in children is crucial. 3.How can I prevent my baby from developing hearing loss before or during pregnancy? There are many factors that affect the hearing of a born baby, and genetics is one of the most important factors. Pre-pregnancy screening, especially for couples with a family history of deafness or deafness, and couples who have had a child with deafness, should undergo genetic screening for deafness before pregnancy as much as possible to reduce the birth of children with deafness. Many factors during pregnancy can also affect fetal hearing, mainly viral infections in early pregnancy (including rubella, cytomegalovirus, etc.), use of ototoxic drugs during pregnancy (gentamicin, kanamycin, etc.), and high-risk pregnancies (diabetes, low A, etc.). Therefore, viral infections and ototoxic drugs should be avoided during pregnancy, and monitoring of high-risk pregnant women needs to be strengthened. 4.How to prevent non-genetic hearing loss in newborns? Infection is one of the main factors of hearing loss in the neonatal period. For example, cytomegalovirus infection (mostly occurs in utero or during delivery) can cause inner ear and/or auditory nerve damage, and neurological infection with hypoxia and severe hyperbilirubinemia can also affect the auditory nerve and lead to hearing loss. Preterm infants have a significantly higher rate of hearing loss than full-term infants due to immaturity. Improper use of certain medications may also affect the hearing of newborns. Therefore, active treatment of primary diseases and rational use of medications are important measures to prevent hearing loss in newborns. In addition, it is also important to reduce environmental noise and prevent otitis media. 5.How to prevent hearing loss in childhood? Many causes can lead to hearing loss in children. It is recommended to take the following preventive measures: 1) For those who have a family history of deafness, genetic testing and genetic counseling are recommended: For those who have a history of asphyxia, jaundice and viral infection during the neonatal period, review the hearing at least 1-2 times a year before the age of 3. 2) To strengthen exercise and improve physical fitness to reduce hearing loss due to infectious diseases (meningitis, mumps, etc.). 3）.To prevent hearing loss caused by head trauma and entertainment noise, etc. If you find that the child taps or scratches the ear; has symptoms such as ear itching and ear swelling; is unresponsive to sound or cannot hear much rhetorical questions, etc., you need to exclude chronic secretory otitis media. 6.How to conduct hearing screening for children? China’s “Technical Specification for Children’s Ear and Hearing Care” stipulates that the age of children’s hearing screening is 0~6 years old, that is, after hearing screening in the neonatal period, children’s health care system management is entered into 0~6 years old, and ear and hearing care is conducted at the same time of health examination, among which 6, 12, 24 and 36 months old are the key ages for hearing screening. For infants and toddlers aged 0 to 3 years, hearing screening is performed by screening otoacoustic emission meter, auditory behavior observation method or portable auditory assessment device; for children over 3 years old, in addition to the above screening, it is recommended to combine with tympanogram examination, once at 4, 5 and 6 years old respectively. A positive result on any of the screening tests should be referred promptly. 7.What should I do if a child is diagnosed with a hearing impairment? If a child is diagnosed with a hearing impairment, early intervention is essential to the success of the child’s rehabilitation. Depending on the hearing condition of the child, different interventions should be chosen. For children with secretory otitis media, regular follow up and review should be conducted, and depending on the hearing condition, observation or medication should be given, and if necessary, surgery should be performed; for children with mild and moderate sensorineural deafness, in addition to regular review of hearing, hearing aids should be worn; for children with severe and profound hearing impairment, if hearing aids are not effective, cochlear implant surgery can be performed. For children with unilateral hearing impairment, hearing intervention should be carried out in a timely manner, and the healthy ear should be protected from head trauma and improper use of drugs to prevent hearing loss in the healthy ear. 8.What are the precautions for hearing aid fitting? Hearing aids are sophisticated electro-acoustic amplifiers that help hearing-impaired patients hear sounds that they would not otherwise hear. Hearing aids are one of the most common rehabilitation tools for people with hearing loss. Children need to pay attention to the following aspects of hearing aid selection: 1) A comprehensive audiological examination before selection, to determine the indications, according to the nature and degree of hearing loss of children with suitable hearing aids. 2) The hearing aids should be matched in a regular hearing rehabilitation institution or hearing aid fitting institution, not to buy and wear them at will, so as not to aggravate the hearing loss. (3) Have your hearing aids regularly adjusted and evaluated by professionals. 9.What are the precautions for cochlear implantation? Cochlear implant is a high-tech electronic device that transforms sound signals into electrical signals to directly stimulate the auditory nerve, thus allowing people to hear. It is currently one of the more effective means of rehabilitation for patients with severe or profound hearing loss. The following aspects need to be taken into account when implanting and fitting cochlear implants in children with hearing loss: 1) A series of evaluations are required for cochlear implant surgery to ensure that the child is suitable for the implant. 2) Correct expectations need to be established. The rehabilitation results after cochlear implantation are affected by the age of the implant recipient, the etiology of the hearing impairment, the course of the disease and the preoperative auditory language level, and the results may vary widely among individuals. (3) After the cochlear implant is turned on, it needs to be regularly adjusted and reinforced with auditory language rehabilitation training. 10.What forms of rehabilitation are available for children with hearing impairment? At present, there are three main forms of rehabilitation for children with hearing impairment in China: 1) Institutional rehabilitation: Children with hearing impairment receive full-time rehabilitation education in rehabilitation institutions, and professionals directly rehabilitate children with hearing impairment while giving some guidance to parents. This form is generally applicable to children with hearing impairment aged 3 to 6 years old. 2) Family rehabilitation: Children with hearing impairment receive rehabilitation training at home, and families can receive guidance from rehabilitation institutions in the form of parent training, parent-child training together, and individualized training by appointment. This form is generally applicable to children with hearing impairment under 3 years old. 3）.Study with the class (integrated education): Children with hearing impairment are enrolled in ordinary kindergartens or ordinary schools to study with the class, and parents carry out rehabilitation reinforcement at home, and at the same time, they can receive regular guidance from rehabilitation institutions. This form is generally applicable to children with hearing impairment who are over 3 years old and have a certain base of auditory language ability. (4) Regardless of the form of rehabilitation, we should adhere to the concept of comprehensive rehabilitation, that is, we should not only pay attention to the development of hearing-impaired children’s hearing and language, but also to their cognitive, emotional, behavioral, social and other aspects of healthy development. 11.What should children with hearing impairment pay attention to when they are enrolled in classes? When children with hearing impairment have a certain level of hearing and language, they can enter ordinary kindergartens and schools to attend classes, which will lay a solid foundation for their integration into society. Parents need to pay attention to the following issues for children with hearing impairment: 1) pay attention to the working status of hearing aid devices and solve problems in time; 2) regularly adjust hearing aid devices and evaluate the effect of hearing aid; 3) insist on intensive auditory language training every day; 4) develop children with hearing impairment’s adaptive ability, communication ability and learning ability; 5) pay attention to the psychological changes of children with hearing impairment and help them build up (5) Pay attention to the psychological changes of children with hearing impairment, help them build up self-confidence and integrate into the hearing group. 12.What are the channels to help children with hearing impairment? The Chinese government and the community attach great importance to the rehabilitation of children with hearing impairment, and various assistance programs have been introduced. At present, there are the following types of programs: 1) “Colorful Dream Action Plan” Cochlear Implant Rehabilitation Program for Deaf Children 2) “Colorful Dream Action Plan” Hearing Aid Rehabilitation Program for Poor Deaf Children 3) “Hearing Reconstruction? Hearing Reconstruction? (4) Cochlear implant donation program (4) Domestic cochlear implant funding program