Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Condition Description

Permanent childhood hearing loss is identified for about 150 infants born in Minnesota each year, with about 100 additional young children identified after the newborn period each year. Minnesota's Early Intervention program, known as MN Part C Infant and Toddler Intervention Services, supports the development of children from birth up to three years of age with permanent (sensorineural, neural, conductive, mixed) and persistent (conductive) hearing loss in one or both ears.

In partnership with MDH, the Minnesota Department of Education created Guidance on Hearing Loss Eligibility under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This guidance, formerly found on this page, is now housed on the MN Department of Education Part B and Part C Resources webpage. There is also a link to this guidance document on the Minnesota Help Me Grow website, For Professionals resource page, "Diagnosed conditions affecting development."

For more information about the different ways a child who has a hearing loss may be determined eligible for Part C, MN Low Incidence Projects provides the document "Determining Eligibility for Minnesota's IDEA Part C Infant and Toddler Intervention Services for Young Children with Hearing Differences."

Consequences of Hearing Loss:

Hearing loss is associated with a risk of delays in language acquisition, learning, and speech development.

Primary Consequences:

Communication difficulties - Children experience varying degrees of difficulty in receiving the auditory speech and environmental stimuli.

Secondary Consequences:

Educational, vocational, psychological and social implications - Hearing loss in young children is known to negatively impact speech and language acquisition, academic achievement, and social/emotional development if intervention is delayed.

Management of Hearing Loss:

Early diagnosis and intervention supports language development and learning. Children whose hearing loss is identified at or before six months of age and who receive appropriate early intervention services have significantly larger vocabularies and better receptive and expressive language skills than those whose hearing loss is discovered later.

Educational Management:

Families will make numerous choices regarding how they communicate with their child and the types of educational services in which they would like their child to participate. These choices may include listening and spoken communication, multimodal communication, and visual communication. Families' choices may change over time as their children grow. Here is a Decision Guide to Communication Choices.

Common communication methods include American Sign Language (ASL), Auditory-Oral, Auditory-Verbal, Bilingual-Bicultural (BiBi), Cued Speech, Simultaneous Communication, Signing Exact English, and Total Communication.

Medical Management:

Conductive or mixed hearing losses resulting from diseases in the outer or middle ear may be treatable through surgery or medication.

Cochlear implantation combines medical and audiological managements to provide direct electrical stimulation to the auditory nerve and allow for the perception of sound.

Audiological Management:

Amplification may be an option. This includes hearing devices, wireless accessories, cochlear implants or other assistive devices.

For More Information

For more information, the following resources might be useful.

Minnesota Resources

• Minnesota Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI)
• Hearing: What you need to Know - Resource Binder for Families (PDF)
• Minnesota Hands and Voices at Lifetrack Resources. Provides a variety of support services to families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. 651-265-2435
• Minnesota Department of Human Services, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services. DHHS provides statewide services and information to help Minnesotans who are deaf, deafblind, late-deafened and hard of hearing. Services include: direct client assistance, training and consultation, assistive technology demonstration labs, short-term employee equipment loan program, culturally affirmative mental health counseling, Telephone Equipment Distribution Program (TED), oversight of Minnesota Relay Outreach, and management of community-based grants awarded to qualifying vendors. 651-431-5940 or 800-456-7589 (Consumers with hearing or speech disabilities may contact DHHS via their preferred Telecommunications Relay Service.)
• Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)
• Refer to Early Intervention and Educational Support through Help Me Grow 1-866-693-4769
• MDE Specialist Contact: Mary Cashman-Bakken, 507-412-5214, Mary.Cashman-Bakken@state.mn.us
• University of Minnesota Lions Infant Hearing Device Loaner Program. Provides loaner hearing devices to children newly-identified as deaf or hard of hearing. A typical loan period is 6 months, giving families time to investigate and purchase amplification for their child without delaying intervention. Phone/Fax: 612-626-7406 lionsear@umn.edu
• PACER Center, 952-838-9000 or 1-800-537-2237

National Resources

• BabyHearing.org - A website for families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• American Academy of Pediatrics - HealthyChildren.org
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) - Hearing Loss in Children.
• National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM) Information about implementation of newborn hearing screening programs, early identification of hearing loss and early intervention programs, 435-797-3584.