Facts & Figures About Hearing Loss in Children

The Prevalence and Incidence of Hearing Loss in Children

• About 34 million people in the U.S. have some degree of reduced hearing sensitivity. Of this number, 80% have irreversible hearing loss and 6 million of the 34 million are profoundly deaf.
• Over 1 million children in the U.S. have a hearing loss.
• 5% of children 18 years and under have hearing loss.
• 1 in 22 infants born in the U.S. has some kind of hearing problem.
• 6 in every 1000 infants born in the U.S. has some degree of hearing loss.
• 1 in every 1000 infants born in the U.S. has a severe or profound hearing loss.
• 83 out of every 1000 children in the U.S. have what is termed an educationally significant hearing loss.
• Among every 1000 school-age students in the U.S., 7 have bilateral and 16-19 have unilateral hearing losses that may significantly interfere with their education.
• Among school age children, severe to profound hearing loss occurs in about 9 children of every 1000.
• 10 in 1000 school age students have permanent sensorineural hearing loss.
• Approximately 30% of children who are hard of hearing have a disability in addition to a hearing loss.

Did you know that…

• Hearing loss is the most common congenital anomaly found in newborns…and yet not all newborns are routinely tested for it.
• Approximately three per 1000 babies are born with a significant hearing loss, and many more children are born with milder forms of hearing loss.
• 14.9% of US children aged six to nineteen have a measurable hearing loss in one or both ears.
• Any degree of hearing loss can be educationally handicapping for children. Even children with mild to moderate hearing losses can miss up to 50% of classroom discussions. Unmanaged hearing loss in children can affect their speech and language development, academic capabilities and educational development, and self-image and social/emotional development.
• The average age of identification of hearing loss in infants is two and a half to three years of age - well past the critical period for speech & language development.
• Studies estimate that as much as 90% of what young children learn is attributable to the reception of incidental conversations around them.
• 37% of children with only minimal hearing loss fail at least one grade.
• All children can be evaluated for hearing loss. Even children who are only minutes old can have their hearing assessed using tests that are safe, painless and easy to administer.
• Recent NIH studies have shown that children with hearing loss who are identified and receive early intervention prior to six months of age develop significantly better language ability than children identified after six months.
• 93 percent of deaf children are born into hearing families; only 7 percent are born into deaf families.
• American Sign Language (ASL) is the third most widely used language in the United States.