Psychology of the Hearing Impaired

At the end of the course, students should be able to: 1. identify the difference between growth and development; 2. differentiate between the growth pattern in children, especially, normal and handicapped children; 3. identify differences in reaction of parents to a handicapped/hearing impaired child; 4. explain the difference in psychology of a congenitally deaf and acquired or a deafened individual; 5. list the different stages of psychological reaction by parents and siblings to the arrival of a baby with a hearing disorder; 6. apply knowledge of counselling already garnered in the course to manage or alleviate parental concern of a hearing impaired child in the family; 7. list the challenges faced by the hearing impaired in the society and how to ameliorate it; 8. explain deaf culture and its implications for oto-audiological treatments across the globe; 9. explain the difference between the psychology of the hearing and the hearing impaired; 10. explain the difference between the psychology of the deaf and the deafened; 11. explain the psychology of the society in general toward the hearing impaired; 12. demonstrate counselling ability to the hearing impaired and the family; 13. explain the psychology behind resistance towards the use of hearing assistive devices particularly in young adolescents/adults; and 14. explain the gender difference in psychology of the hearing impaired.

Developmental process in a normal hearing child from psychological perspective. Process of physical, mental, emotional, linguistic development of a child as related to auditory development. Psychological reaction to sound and type of sound a baby reacts to.Personality characteristics of the hearing impaired child. Parental reaction to diagnosis of hearing loss in their offspring. Psychology of congenital (pre-lingual) and acquired (post-lingual) hearing loss. Deaf culture/community. Communication strategies in the profoundly hearing impaired. Psychological approach to education of the hearing impaired child. Perception of the deaf to cochlea implants and other oto-audiological treatments.