Physiology
Even the unborn child in the womb perceives sounds from the outside world;
the foetus reacts to sound starting
already from the 24th week of pregnancy.
However, the auditory paths mature and completely differentiate only after birth;
furthermore, this process is fostered by acoustic stimuli.
Speech development
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The perception of acoustic signals is enormously important not only for the
physiological maturity of the hearing, but also for the speech development of
the child. In the so-called initial babbling phase, children throughout
the world exhibit roughly the same phonetic speech patterns. At the age
of four to six months, a child's sense of hearing begins to influence
lasting speech development. In other words, children begin consciously
to perceive their own voice and to play with speech during this period. If a child
has no sense of hearing, he/she will gradually lose interest in trying out
different sounds. Consequently, the baby finally stops babbling altogether in the second
half of his/her first year.
Psychology
Parents talk to their children from the moment of birth, and although an
infant does not yet grasp the meaning of the words, the baby does hears father's or
mother's voice communicate a sense of security and nearness. The repertoire
of this emotional-acoustic communication is expanded. The child experiences
praise, approval or admonition through his/her parents' voices even before learning
to speak. These messages are of great importance for early social learning and
in the development of the child's personality.
For all these reasons, it is important to detect and to treat infantile hearing defects as early as possible.
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