Editing Hearing loss (section)

==== Spoken language ability ====
[[Prelingual deafness]] is profound hearing loss that is sustained before the acquisition of language, which can occur due to a [[congenital]] condition or through hearing loss before birth or in early infancy. Prelingual deafness impairs an individual's ability to acquire a ''spoken'' language in children, but deaf children can acquire spoken language through support from cochlear implants (sometimes combined with hearing aids).<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Niparko JK, Tobey EA, Thal DJ, Eisenberg LS, Wang NY, Quittner AL, Fink NE|date=April 2010|title=Spoken language development in children following cochlear implantation|journal=JAMA|volume=303|issue=15|pages=1498–1506|doi=10.1001/jama.2010.451|pmc=3073449|pmid=20407059}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Kral A, O'Donoghue GM|date=October 2010|title=Profound deafness in childhood|journal=The New England Journal of Medicine|volume=363|issue=15|pages=1438–1450|doi=10.1056/NEJMra0911225|pmid=20925546|s2cid=13639137}}</ref> Non-signing (hearing) parents of deaf babies (90–95% of cases) usually go with oral approach without the support of sign language, as these families lack previous experience with [[sign language]] and cannot competently provide it to their children without learning it themselves. This may in some cases (late implantation or not sufficient benefit from cochlear implants) bring the risk of [[language deprivation]] for the deaf baby<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Hall WC|date=May 2017|title=What You Don't Know Can Hurt You: The Risk of Language Deprivation by Impairing Sign Language Development in Deaf Children|journal=Maternal and Child Health Journal|volume=21|issue=5|pages=961–965|doi=10.1007/s10995-017-2287-y|pmc=5392137|pmid=28185206}}</ref> because the deaf baby would not have a sign language if the child is unable to acquire spoken language successfully. The 5–10% of cases of deaf babies born into signing families have the potential of age-appropriate development of language due to early exposure to a ''sign language'' by sign-competent parents, thus they have the potential to meet language milestones, in sign language in lieu of spoken language.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mayberry|first=Rachel|date=2007|title=When timing is everything: Age of first-language acquisition effects on second-language learning|journal=Applied Psycholinguistics|volume=28|issue=3|pages=537–549|doi=10.1017/s0142716407070294|doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[Post-lingual deafness]] is hearing loss that is sustained after the [[language acquisition|acquisition of language]], which can occur due to [[disease]], [[Physical trauma|trauma]], or as a side-effect of a medicine. Typically, hearing loss is gradual and often detected by family and friends of affected individuals long before the patients themselves will acknowledge the disability.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Meyer C, Scarinci N, Ryan B, Hickson L |date=December 2015 |title='This Is a Partnership Between All of Us': Audiologists' Perceptions of Family Member Involvement in Hearing Rehabilitation |journal=American Journal of Audiology |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=536–548 |doi=10.1044/2015_AJA-15-0026 |pmid=26649683 |s2cid=13091175}}</ref> Post-lingual deafness is far more common than pre-lingual deafness. Those who lose their hearing later in life, such as in late adolescence or adulthood, face their own challenges, living with the adaptations that allow them to live independently.{{cn|date=December 2024}}