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• Prerequisites and learning objectives
• Lesson
  • Content
    • 1 - Hearing loss
      • 1.1 - Categories of hearing loss severity
      • 1.2 - Functional assessment of hearing loss
        • 1 . 2 . 1 - In children
        • 1 . 2 . 2 - In adults
    • 2 - Sensory disabilities in children
      • 2.1 - Normal development of spoken language in children
      • 2.2 - Warning signs – approaches to management
    • 3 - Sensory disabilities in adults
      • 3.1 - General
      • 3.2 - Repercussions
      • 3.3 - Approaches to management
    • 4 - The specific case of profound or total unilateral hearing loss
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3  -  Sensory disabilities in adults

3 . 1  -  General

Conductive hearing loss should be specially managed, potentially using with surgery.

Bilateral sensorineural hearing loss is most often progressive, primarily affecting the high frequencies, at least initially. Profound bilateral hearing loss may occur under specific circumstances:

• bilateral petrous bone fracture;
• bacterial meningitis;
• sudden hearing loss.

Bilateral hearing loss occurring in adulthood may have various repercussions depending on its severity and the patient's age.

3 . 2  -  Repercussions

Any bilateral hearing loss of 35-40 dB in medium and high frequencies may be a serious social impediment:

• students in the secondary or higher education system may find themselves in difficulty;
• any working adult may have problems, including possible job loss or transfer;
• any senior citizen risks progressive isolation and a tendency to avoid social and family contact as well as telephone calls, stimuli which are essential to maintaining patients' mental faculties.

3 . 3  -  Approaches to management

It should ideally be possible to rapidly equip any adult in need of bilateral hearing prostheses, given recent technological progress.

Speech therapy should be reserved for patients with profound/severe hearing loss who need rehabilitation with lip reading. Patients with profound hearing loss, if unable to benefit from conventional hearing aids, are also candidates for cochlear implantation.

Administratively speaking, workplace hearing loss is listed under workplace illnesses, Table 42, and conditionally entitles the claimant to compensation.

The various rubrics for assessing auditory disabilities under ordinary or labor law, or in the case of civil-service workers, define the degree of PPD (partial permanent disability) as ranging from 5% for mild bilateral hearing loss to 80% for bilateral hearing loss of 80 dB and above.