Tuesday 10th October 2017 marked World Mental Health Day, and so we wanted to share some key facts about mental health in relation to hearing loss. 

Did you know that over 40% of children with permanent hearing loss are estimated to have mental health difficulties in childhood/early adulthood (NDCS, 2010)?

Children who have hearing loss are at greater risk of experiencing social isolation, loneliness and difficulty with peer relationships (Young, Green & Rogers, 2008; Peterson, O’Reilly, & Wellman, 2016). This can potentially influence social-emotional development and subsequent adult relationships.

Early intervention is key help prevent this. Early access to language is the decisive factor that drives development forward and provides good social-emotional functioning (Hintermair, 2015).

At Auditory Verbal UK, we focus on accessing language through listening and speaking. We support the development of children’s listening, speaking, thinking and social skills to help them to thrive at school and beyond.

For more information on recent studies, please see our 2017 position paper or contact our research assistant Abi at [email protected]