The identification and management of deaf children.

Deafness is defined as the inability to use hearing as a primary channel for receiving speech, even with amplification. Hearing loss, on the other hand, is hearing impairment of various degrees that could be unilateral or bilateral. In the United States, approximately one out of every 1,000 children is born deaf with 3-5 being born with less severe degrees of hearing impairment. Deafness present at birth could be due to genetic abnormalities or due to injury to the developing auditory system or due to developmental anomalies of this system. Deafness can also develop after birth and, in broad terms, the cause can be toxic, infectious, neoplastic, traumatic or degenerative. The purpose of this paper is to: (1) review the effects of deafness on the child, (2) discuss the causes of deafness, (3) describe the clinical characteristics which allow early diagnosis and the algorithm otolaryngologists use to investigate a child suspected to be deaf, (4) describe the management of the deaf child and finally, (5) review the results of rehabilitation.